Code Magi Lyrical Rider: Side StorieS
by Harouki
Summary: Some random not-quite-canon side stories that my mind has churned out while I should be writing more important things.
1. Code Magi Lyrical Rider PuchiS 1

**Code Magi Lyrical Rider PuchiS 1**

Our story begins in the city of Neo-Pendragon, the capital of the holy empire of Britannia, where His Majesty, Lelouch vi Britannia is returning from his trip out of the country.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?"

Oh, it seems like the fun has already started.

"W-what the hell is this?" Lelouch repeats as he points to the group of little..._things_ waddling up to him with their arms out to him.

"Oh, you're back, Lelouch vi Britannia?" the small white creature known as Kyubey the Incubator says as it looks up from its royal cushion.

"Kyubey!" Lelouch shouts as he goes up and grabs the alien by the back of its neck. "Did you do this...this...what the hell is this?"

"I have no idea," Kyubey replies. "They appeared a few hours ago and your sister has taken a liking to them and wanted to keep them."

"But...what are they?" he demands. "And why the hell do they look like the Puella?"

"Who knows..." Kyubey shrugs as it looks downward. "But it seems they like you."

Lelouch looks down at his feet as well and spots that the _things_ had surrounded him and were looking up at him with wide eyes.

Now that they are closer to our hero, this writer can now describe them to you all.

As was said, they looked similar to the Magical Girls created by Kyubey in the Parallel World.

They were all dressed in their Magical Girl outfits with miniture versions of their weapons attached to their backs (in the case of the ones that looked like Kyouko, Mami and Madoka), on their arm (in the case of Homura) and to their waist (in the case of Sayaka.)

Their heads were about as large as their entire bodies which seemed to have stubby little hands and feet with no indications for fingers and toes. Or rather, their feet seemed to be completely fat as if they were hooves or something.

"What kind of idiot brought creatures like this into the world?" Lelouch screams at the top of his lungs.

What kind indeed...?

"Ti...Ro!" the Mami lookalike coos as it tugs on his pants and starts jumping up and down trying to get his attention.

"Hmm?" he grunts as he drops Kyubey back on its cushion and picks up the _thing_ with both of his hands. "What do you want?"

The _thing_ starts to squeal in happiness in his hands before wriggling out of them and diving onto his face, hugging it with its entire body.

Lelouch proceeds to stumble around, shouting in muffled rage and indignation as he attempts to wrench the offending creature off of his face.

"Oh, there you are, Lelouch," comes a familiar voice somewhere in front of him. "I see you found the palace's new arrivals."

"Bwah!" Lelouch grunts as he finally pulls the _thing_ off of his face. "Gino? Where the hell did they come from?"

"Dunno," the Knight of Three, Gino Weinberg,replies. "As Mr. Alien said over there, they just appeared outta nowhere a little while ago. But they sure our funny little guys aren't they?"

"There's nothing funny about being smothered by a little...whatever the hell these things are!" Lelouch counters as he waves the giggling Mami Look-a-like in front of Gino.

"Well, Kallen's taken to calling them 'Chibi' or something," Gino explained as he patted the _thing_ on the head. "But Princess Nunnally's been calling them 'Puchi' instead."

"I see..." Lelouch nods as he looks around. "Hey Gino. Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, Boss?"

"Where did the others go?"

"Somewhere."

Indeed, the other four Chibi/Puchi have disappeared during the course of the conversation between the emperor and his knight.

"So I noticed," Lelouch nods as he turns back to Gino. "When did they leave?"

"About the time that Mami...hell let's call them Puchi...that Mami Puchi started hugging your face," Gino replied.

"I see..." Lelouch sighs as he plants his palm against his face. It seems as though he's gone past the incredulous mode and has decided to accept his fate. "I suppose we have to look for them now..."

"I guess so," Gino nods in agreement.

"You...you're enjoying this aren't you?"

"Oh, you can tell?"

"Whatever...let's see...let's start with the Kyouko look-a-like since it's obvious where that _thing_ will end up going..." Lelouch sighs as he walks along with the Mami Puchi (guess that's what we'll be calling them then) under his arm.

"Umm...is it okay to be holding it like that?" Gino asks as he points to the Puchi.

"What's wrong about it?" Lelouch asks as he turns to Gino.

"Well...from back here, I can see its underwear."

"TIROOOO?" the Mami Puchi screeches as it tries to wriggle out of Lelouch's arms.

"Gah! Calm the hell down!"

"Hahahaha, you're sure having fun, Boss."

"Get over here and help me, damn it! Holy-"

It seems Puchi Mami has begun firing her musket in embarrassment.

"It's supposed to be a one shot musket!" Lelouch shouts as he desperately tries to avoid the shots. "What the hell!"

And so after a few short minutes that the writer can't really be bothered to explain to you right now, they managed to make their way out to the kitchens.

"Oh, it really was here after all," Gino says as the two men plus one Puchi poked their heads into the kitchens to see the Kyouko Puchi waddling around. "Or rather...they...are..."

"How in the world did they multiply?" Lelouch groans as he palms his face again.

Sure enough there about ten of the little buggers scrambling around the kitchen looking in every nook and cranny for a properly prepared meal.

"Come to think of it...didn't the real one do something like this too?" Gino asks. "When she was a Witch anyway."

"Yeah, I suppose she did..." Lelouch nods.

"Your Majesty? Gino? What are you two doing?"

The two of them turned around to see Monica Kruszewski standing there with some reports in her arms looking at them in confusion.

"Shh...be very very quiet," Gino replies as he pointed at the Mami Puchi. "We're hunting these things."

"As much as I feel nostalgic about that old cartoon...why?" Monica asks.

"Because they are unnatural and they disturb me," Lelouch replies with a blank face. "Now...do you have any idea how to get those Kyouko ones back out here?"

As if it wanted to help Lelouch, the Mami Puchi poked him in the side and when he turned down to look at it, it raised a dish with a cake on it towards his face.

"How..."

"When...?"

"Ahahaha, this is so awesome!"

The emperor, the female knight and the male knight all say at the same time.

"Somehow I have a bad feeling about this..." Lelouch mutters as he take the dish and hands it to Monica. "Can you hold this for a moment?"

"Hmm?" Monica asks as she takes it. "Sure but...why?"

Lelouch, the sneaky bastard, doesn't answer and instead pulls open the door and hides behind it.

Seconds later a shrill scream occurs beyond the door, causing the Mami Puchi to jolt in shock slightly as Lelouch has an evil smirk on his face before quickly applying a mask of concern over it and peer around the door.

Monica was on the ground covered by all ten of the Kyouko Puchi who were fighting over the cake in her hands.

"Well that worked out well," Lelouch says with a smile on his face.

"You're evil," Gino mutters. "Genius. But evil."

"WHY AREN'T YOU HELPING ME?" Monica screams as she slides the dish away from her and the Puchi chase after it like rabid dogs. "Thanks a lot!"

"You're welcome!" Gino replies with a salute, earning himself a sweeping kick to the legs. "Ow! Why did you hit me? I didn't open the door!"

"Because I can't very well hit His Majesty!" came the reply.

"I'll leave you two alone then," Lelouch says as he strolls on over to the Kyouko Puchi group and stared at them.

They return his stare with their own while slowly stuffing their faces with the cake.

"**Disappear**," he says in the tone that only a true demon king would ever use.

Instantly, nine of the Puchi disappeared, leaving only one Kyouko one behind, which looked around with a face that seemed to say that it was betrayed by its copies.

"Anko...?" it asks as it looks at him with a hint of fear. Congratulations. You struck fear into a super deformed version of a fifteen year old girl.

"Why are you glaring at the ceiling?" Gino asks, ignoring the fact that Monica was currently attempting pull him into an arm lock.

"No reason," Lelouch replies as he abandons his useless attempt to glare at the ceiling and picks up the sobbing Puchi and tucks it under his arm as well.

"Tiro!" the blonde Puchi says in an attempt to comfort the red headed one.

"Anko..."

"Next up should be..." Lelouch mumbles before looking up. "Oh, that one should be easy too."

He places both Puchi on the ground and steps on their skirts to keep them from waddling away as he pulls out his cellphone.

"Suzaku? Where are you?"

"_Umm...in the Lancelot's hanger..._" came the reply.

"You have one of those...things hanging on you don't you?"

"_If by hanging on you mean clinging onto my leg and then my arm whenever I attempt to pull her off...yeah, I have one hanging on me._"

"Right...stay there. I'm going to bring two more over and after that we'll go find the other two."

And so we have our esteemed emperor walking through his own palace carrying two little Puchi under his arms. You could imagine the stares and whispers he got from his servants and guards.

"You two are so much trouble!" he shouts as he holds them both in front of his face.

The Mami Puchi actually looks ashamed as it averts its eyes and looks toward the ground while the Kyouko Puchi has somehow fallen asleep. The Mami Puchi looks from her fellow Puchi to Lelouch and then suddenly squeals in shock at the demonic expression he has on her face.

"I can't believe I'd rather deal with the real Kyouko then you," Lelouch sighs as he continues his trek to the Knightmare Hangers.

Sure enough, once he got there, the Sayaka Puchi was hanging on Suzaku's back with a very satisfied smile on its face while the knight was trying desperately to gently pull her off without hurting her as the technicians watched with amused smiles on their faces.

"Having fun?" Lelouch asks sarcastically even though he could tell that neither of them were having fun at all. "Why isn't anyone helping you?"

"Because when Miss Cecile tried it she waved her sword at her," Suzaku replied as the Puchi started snarling at Lelouch as if angry that he dared pull Suzaku's attention away from her.

"Saaaa! Saya!" the Puchi growls at Lelouch who simply returns it with a deadpan stare.

"I have an idea," Lelouch said as he raised the arm with the Kyouko Puchi in it and shook her awake.

"Anko?" it asks as it slowly opened its eyes.

"Suzaku turn to the side for a moment."

"Like this?" Suzaku asks as he turns.

"Perfect."

"Ankooooooo!"

"Saya? Sayack!"

Lelouch had thrown the Puchi like a football, causing it to soar through the air, smacking right into the Sayaka Puchi, knocking it off Suzaku and sending both Puchi sprawling across the ground

The Puchi sat up for a moment and looked around. Then, both of them started bawling at the same time, causing all the technicians plus Suzaku to turn toward Lelouch with accusation in their eyes.

"Get back to work!" he barks and the technicians quickly scramble away back to their stations.

The Mami Puchi wriggles out of Lelouch's grasp and trots on over to the crying Puchi. They stop long enough to turn toward her and give her their attention as it seems to calm them down.

"Looks like she's also the 'big sister' of the group," Suzaku chuckles as he scratches his cheek.

"I swear these things will be the death of me," Lelouch groans as he rubs his eyes again. "Now we only have to find the Madoka one."

"What about Homura?"

"If it's anything like the real Homura, she'll be around the Madoka one."

"Ah, that makes sense."

"The problem with that is..." Lelouch mumbles as the Mami Puchi drags the other two back to the two men. "The place where the Madoka one will be isn't as obvious as the others."

"Maybe a place with a lot of pink?" Suzaku suggests as he picks up the Sayaka Puchi, earning himself a big hug from the tiny thing.

Lelouch simply stares at his friend before turning around and heading toward the room with the most pink in the entire palace.

Nunnally's Room.

"Nunnally? Are you in there?" he asks as he knocks on her door.

"Ah, yes I am, Brother," Nunnally replies as he opens the door.

"Have you seen the last..." Lelouch begins before stopping.

Nunnally is currently sitting at a table with tea and cake in front of her. Sitting directly opposite of her on top of a stack of books was the Madoka Puchi, gnawing on the cake in front of it.

"Huh, I was right," Suzaku said as he poked his head in. "So where's the Homura one?"

"Oh, she's over there," Nunnally says, pointing to her dresser where the Homura Puchi was peeking out from behind it. "She doesn't seem to want to join us though."

"Homu..." the Puchi growls as she looks at the two men and the other Puchi.

"Well...at least that's all of them," Lelouch sighs as he places the other Puchi on the table where they quickly make themselves at home. "Can I ask you to look after them while I figure out what to do with them...or rather how to get rid of them?"

"That's not a nice thing to say, Bro-" Nunnally begins only to cut off by the sound of a firecracker.

"Ow!" Lelouch shouts as he slaps a hand on his cheek. "What the heck was that? Ow!"

Several more cracks sound in the air as Lelouch starts jumping back.

"Homu! Homu homu!"

The Homura Puchi was shooting at Lelouch with a tiny little gun.

Suzaku quickly walks over to the Homura Puchi and picks it up by the back of her collar and plucks the gun out of her hand. Instead, the Puchi growls at him and pulls out a tiny flash bang from the shield and tosses it at Suzaku's face.

The Knight manages to close his eyes before it exploded so the miniature flash bang didn't even faze him as he walked over and plopped the Puchi on the table after removing its shield from her wrist.

"That stupid little..." Lelouch growls as he stares down the Homura Puchi which promptly ignores him as it walks over and sits down beside the Madoka Puchi.

"It's your fault for being so mean, Brother," Nunnally said. "Have you thought of names for them?"

"Why would I bother with names for something that won't be hanging around for long?"

"Brother...then would you mind if I do it?"

"Go ahead."

Nunnally smiles at her brother as the Puchi turned to her, as if eager to receive names.

"Then...how about we call them by the first two syllables in their names, just to keep it simple?" Nunnally asks. "So, Madomado, Homuhomu, Sayasaya, Kyoukyou and...ah..."

The Mami Puchi looks up at Nunnally, as she was the only one that had a two syllable name.

"Tomotomo!" Nunnally says quickly as Tomotomo freezes in shocks and starts sobbing quietly.

"I bet no one else has to deal with this..." Lelouch signs unknowingly. "Just what the hell do you mean by 'unknowingly?'"

What do I mean indeed...

* * *

"Tomoe Mami...what in the world is this...?"

Homura looks apprehensively at the three tiny things in front of her.

A Lelouch Puchi that was flicking through some cards in front of him. A C.C. Puchi that was hugging a Cheese-kun plushy with one hand while her other hand was holding the back of the Lelouch Puchi's shirt. And a Suzaku Pushi that was standing guard next to the Lelouch Puchi.

"I think we're being invaded by Rider plush toys," Kyouko says as she pokes the Lelouch Puchi which doesn't react at all and continues going through the cards.

"They're cute so it's fine right?" Mami asks as she picks the Lelouch Puchi and hugs him against her chest. "Kyaaaah! Lelouch-san!"

"What have we gotten ourselves into now?" Homura sighs as she covers her eyes in frustration.

* * *

Chapter's End Corner

**Harouki**: I would LOVE to say that I wrote this while drunk or on some kind of drug. But alas, I wrote this because I felt the need to write something cracky and/or adorable. So you guys get tiny little Super Deformed version of the Puella and Code Geass characters waddling around. If you guys want, I think I'll use this to post up what I got for my other "didn't quite make it" projects like the rewritten Koihime Rider chapters and Fate/Magica. But for now, I'll be working on Persona Magi Madoka Magica. Hopefully I'll get the next chapter up before the end of the month.

Still no ETA on Code Magi Lyrical Rider StrikerS btw. I've been trying to start with some light hearted slice of life bits but it feels like I might need to scrap it all.


	2. Homu and the Summer Fever

**Homu and the Summer Fever  
**

Homura woke up feeling extremely tired, as if she ran a mile in her sleep.

Her whole body was sore, her breath was cut short, and she felt like she was running a small fever.

"What's going on?" she wondered as she shakily stood up. "I wonder if we have some cold medicine in the cupboard somewhere. I'll ask Lelouch..."

Wrapping a stole around her shoulders, she used the walls for support as she walked down the stairs to where the smell of breakfast drifted toward her nose. She was glad Lelouch decided to visit, even though he was trying to escape an arranged marriage meeting his sister set up for him.

Making her way to the kitchen, she called out to Lelouch.

"Lelouch, do we have any cold medicine?"

"Hahahahahahahaha!" came Lelouch's reply.

"...What?"

"Oh come now Akemi Homura! How can you let something like a cold slow thee down?"

"What?"

"Thou are a modern day Magical Girl!"

"Huh?"

"Not just any Magical Girl either! You are the epitome...nay, the Avatar of Elegance! Thy cool beauty and iron will that encases your tender soft soul captures the hearts of millions everywhere!"

Homura blinked as she pressed rubbed her eyes with both of her hands and stared at Lelouch. The man was facing her with one hand on his face and the other was pointing a bacon filled skillet at her.

"Lelouch...are you feeling all right?" she asked slowly.

"Should thou really be asking one such as me that question?" Lelouch asked back as he leaned his head back and swung the skillet to the side before breaking into a deep bow. "The I of today is no more insane than the one of yesterday. Therefore the me of tomorrow shall be the same as the me from yesterday which was Saturday!"

"I...what...?"

"Ah, the poor Magical Girl. Her mind muddled with sickness has become unable to think straight. But alas, we have no medicine in storage right now. Never fear, I shall run tot he drugstore and pick up as much as you need oh Avatar of Elegance. I only ask to see you flip your hair when I return."

"What."

"Wish me luck and fare thee well! Hahahahahahahahaha!"

And with that, Lelouch tossed the skillet into the air, causing the sausages to fly forward toward Homura and land on a plate that she was a hundred percent sure wasn't in front of her two seconds ago before catching the skillet and dumping it into the sink before vanishing out the door.

Left with nothing but a plate full of sausages, Homura did the only sensible thing she could think off.

She grabbed her right cheek with her right hand and pulled it for a bit before releasing her grip.

"That...hurt?" she asked as she rubbed her cheek. "What's going on? Is Lelouch sick in the head?"

Ignoring the sausages, she stood back up and quickly made her way to Mami's room.

"Mami...are you awake?" Homura asked as she knocked on the door. "I think there's something wrong...with...Lelouch...huh?"

Instead of the room filled with fluffy pillows, assorted china and oak furniture was a room filled with training equipment such as dumbells, a bench press, a treadmill and a punching bag.

Several dozen punching bags.

Most of which were spilling sand onto the ground from the giant holes in them.

"TAH! HAH! SEIYAAH!"

Several hot-blooded battle cries were coming from the room's owner as she beat the punching bag over and over again with her fists. It seems that she's currently in the middle of her training while in her Magical Girl garb.

"Tomoe Mami..." Homura began as she felt dizzy for a reason that had nothing to do with her fever. "What in the world are you doing?"

"Oh, good morning, Homura!" came the reply causing Homura to blink.

"Homura?"

"Just give me a minute to finish up," Mami continued as she raised her fist. "Boost your spirit to the limit and channel it all into your fist! TIRO...FINALE!"

And with her trademark final attack, her arm shot straight through the punching bag with her hand poking out the other side.

"How...Magical!" Mami said as she pulled her arm out.

"T-T-That's 'Physical!'" Homura shouted before clutching her head in pain.

"Oh, are you sick?" Mami asked. "I told you to take your vitamins, Homura."

But Homura didn't bother answering her as she shut the door and stepped away from it.

"This is wrong..." she said to herself as she made her way back up the stairs. "This is wrong...this is wrong...this is wrong...this is wrong..."

"Hmm? What's wrong, Homura?" came the voice of the third Magical Girl living in the apartment.

"Sakura Kyouko!" Homura said as she whirled around toward the voice. "Something strange is...going on...why are you a kid?"

In front of her was a Sakura Kyouko half her size, chewing on one of the sausages that Homura had left behind on the dinner table as she looked up at her.

"Because of my wish?" Kyouko asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Wish...?"

"You know. The thing we make to be Magical Girls?"

"...What was your wish again?"

"To be able to order Kid's Meals without being embarrassed as I get older."

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Booooooop .

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

Despite every muscle and bone in her body screaming at her in protest, Homura ran up the stairs back to her room and slammed the door behind her before leaning her back against it and sliding down onto the floor.

"Oi, you okay in there, Homura?" came Kyouko's concerned voice. "You're acting really weird today."

"_I'm not the one who is weird!_" Homura thought desperately. "_You people are!_"

"She's just sick," Mami's voice chipped in. "She'll tough it out like she always does."

"_These are not the Magical Girls I know! What's going on here?_"

She needed to know what was going on.

Lelouch is acting like a madman.

Mami is an exercise nut.

Kyouko is a kid...

"You think we should call Madoka?"

"_Uh oh._"

"Hmm...Madoka should be able to beat some sense back into her."

"_Nononononono! I do not want to know what's become of Madoka!_" Homura thought as she made her way to the window for escape.

"Ara...where are you going, Akemi Homura?" came an irritatingly familiar voice that she hadn't heard in months.

"Kyubey!" she shouted. "What the hell is..."

She froze.

The Incubator was lying on its back in the corner of her room.

She paled.

It's forelegs were behind its head and it was spreading its hind legs out to her in a provocative fashion and was wearing lipstick and blushing.

She vomited.

"Oh crap that didn't sound good," Kyouko said as Homura's door flew open.

"Ah, she's lying in a pool of her own vomit," Mami said. "How weak."

"I ain't cleaning that up."

"_I can't take this anymore..._" Homura cried as her consciousness left her.

* * *

When her consciousness returned, she found herself lying back in her bed.

"Oh...you're awake..." a tired sounding voice said to her right.

Homura's eyes slowly opened as she turned toward the speaker.

"Miki...Sayaka..." Homura noted.

"Yeah..." Sayaka nodded as she continued what she was doing, peeling an apple. "Got a call from Kyouko...said you were sick so Madoka and I came over."

The girl looked like she had seen better days.

Her face was sickly pale, like she had barely seen the light of day and there were dark bags under her eyes. Her voice was low and cracking as well.

"Are you sick too?" Homura couldn't help but ask.

"No...I'm fine," Sayaka replied. "Don't worry about it. Madoka's just been making me hang out with her all the time again..."

"Madoka...?" Homura asked warily.

"She's downstairs," Sayaka replied as she set the plate of apple slices down on the dresser. "I'll let everyone know you're up."

"Wait..." Homura began but it was too late.

Sayaka was a foot from the door when it suddenly burst open, smashing against her face and knocking her over.

"Homura-pyon are you alive!" Madoka shouted as she burst into the room, ignoring Sayaka who was rolling on the floor with her hands pressed against her nose in pain.

"Hahahahahaha, of course she is!" Lelouch said as he followed her in. "The Avatar of Elegance has received the blessing of modern science! But she will not be the her of yesterday until morrow!"

"Beh...you used some cheap medicine didn't you Lulu-pon."

"Expensive!" Lelouch threw one arm to the side. "Poor!" he threw the other arm out as well. "What's the difference? Oh! Behold! The Avatar of Elegance is filled with joy at the Goddess's presence that she has burst into tears."

"Woohoo! She's back to normal already!" Madoka cheered

"This isn't my Madoka..." Homura sobbed. "This isn't my successful world...why is this happening?"

"Methinks she needs a few tens of thousands more seconds," Lelouch said as he placed a hand on Homura's forehead to check her temperature.

"Psh, how boring."

"Kuku...kukukukukuku..." a dark laugh resounded in the room.

"Sutopu! Taimu! Waitaminitu!" Lelouch said as he made a "T" with his hands. "Me and thou has forgotten about the fish!"

"Each and every day I gotta deal with your crap..." Sayaka muttered as she stood up, suddenly dressed in her Magical Girl garb as a river of blood fell from both nostrils that she seemed fine with just ignoring. "Today's my chance at revenge ya bastards!"

"Saya-pyon's being weird again," Madoka sighed as Lelouch pressed his right hand over his face, his fingers spread out so he can peer through them.

"Die you bastards!"

"Never thee mind! For this is the work that must be done by the bean paste!"

"Sayaka!" Kyouko shouted as she burst into the room and dove at the blue haired Puella.

"Don't lose control!" Kyouko said as she hung from the younger girl's arm. "You'll wreck the apartment and Suzaku's not here for you to have fun with!"

Sayaka stared at Kyouko for a moment before letting her arms fall limp.

"Sorry..." Sayaka muttered.

"Good," Kyouko nodded in satisfaction.

"Then I'll take you to the hotel instead," Sayaka said as she made her way out the door, dragging a horrified Kyouko with her by the back of her neck.

"Don't miss late time meal time," Lelouch called out after them.

"Heh..." Homura cracked as a smirk stretched across her face. "Heh heh heh..."

"No no no," Lelouch chastised. "It's not heh heh heh for a sane man's laugh. Repeat after me! Hahahahahahaha! Do you understand? The sane are insane in an insane world!"

"Heh...heh heh...hahahahahahaha!" Homura cackled as she fell back against her bed and pressed her nails against her face.

"Thy see? It is very much not impossible! Thy insanity is for those weak! It is for boring men and women! That is why entertainment is mine soul!"

"_I wanna go home..._" Homira cried.

* * *

"I do believe she has calmed down..." Mami said as she placed a hand on Homura's forehead.

"Never would have thought Homura of all people would catch a summer cold," Kyouko muttered as she munched on some pocky.

"Really..." Lelouch sighed as he wrung the wet cloth. "I come for a quick visit and I have to spend my time taking care of a sick person. And a sick person that seems to be having a nightmare at that..."

"Hah...haha...haha...sane is insane..." Homura mumbled.

"Now that is just being creepy..." Kyouko said as she walked up to Homura and pinched her nose shut. "Let's wake her up before she does it again."

A few seconds later, Homura coughed as she vaulted herself into an upright position.

"Are you okay, Homura-san?" Mami asked, causing Homura's head to turn toward her.

"M-Mami?" she asked uncertainly.

"Y-yes, Homura-san?" Mami asked.

"Mami!" Homura cried as she lunged at the older girl and hugged her.

"Eh? Eh ehhhh?"

"Looks like you had quite the fever dream, Homura," Lelouch said.

"Lelouch! You make sense! And Kyouko's not a kid! I'm back! I'm back home!"

"Or she's just gone off the deep end," Kyouko said as Homura hugged Mami tighter causing the girl to gasp out in pain. "Who can really say?"

* * *

Harouki: I really...really should stop writing things when I'm running 21 hours without sleep. It's like sleep deprivation is my writer's drug. That or it's because I watched Nunnally in Wonderland...who can really say?

Homura's dream Lelouch is loosely inspired by Lelouch's Mad Hatter from Nunnally in Wonderland. /watch?v=FmgnNZv9o_c

The Puella are inspired by gogiga gagagigo's Homu Chance Life. /watch?v=j9KlmiDTkIo

Kyubey is a soulless abomination that needs to be destroyed...


	3. Code Magi Lyrical Rider Zer0 1

**Code Magi Lyrical Rider: Zer0  
**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Darkness of Zero**

* * *

"So...this is hell, huh?"

A single man was floating in the darkness. He had pale white skin and was wearing a pure white tux with white slacks and a white hat. Even his hair was white. One could have thought the man was a holy being...but he knew better. He was white because he was black. He dressed within the light because he was the darkness.

The Darkness of the Book of Darkness.

The Eternal Rider.

The Destroyer of Worlds.

The Origin and Omega of Materials.

The Zero.

Those were his names and titles and he bore them all with pride without a single bit of remorse.

"But...if this is hell...it certainly is boring," he sighed as he spun around in the space. "How can I enjoy it if there is nothing there."

"_It's too early to give up_," a voice called out to him.

"Who's giving up? Is giving up and acceptance really the same thing? I wanted this. This is my hell. For the crimes of the Book. For the crimes Mother, the Knight Programs, and my cute little sisters committed, I am willing to bear them all. Just like how my Original gathered all the hate of the world and died along with them, I gathered all the grief and darkness of the newborn Tome and the Grief outputted by Kaname Madoka's wish...and died with them. What's there to be sad about?"

"_If that is true...then why are you crying?_"

"Because there is nothing happening. Nothing to do but to talk to a voice in my head. I am crying of boredom. What happened to the eternity of torture for sinners that some human tome talks about? I feel a little ripped off."

"_Even though you've been suffering all this time...you wish to suffer even more?_"

"What are you supposed to be anyway? A criminal's conscious? Oh, I get it now. I have to listen to you for all eternity! That's my punishment! Great..."

"J_eez...it's not like that!_"

Suddenly, the darkness vanished as the man's spinning came to a halt and he started falling. He then landed on the ground with a dull thud and started rolling on the ground, holding onto the back of his head in pain.

"Ah, I'm sorry!"

The man stopped rolling around for a moment when he heard a woman's voice. He then tilted his head up while still keeping his hands on the back of it.

"You..." he spoke, recognizing the woman instantly. "But..."

"Hmm...not exactly 'me' per se," the woman said, holding a finger to her cheek. "But close. You know how it is don't you? Seeing as you have a copy of his memories."

"Parallels..."

"Correct. You win!"

"That was a quiz?" the man asked, raising an eyebrow.

"And what you win is a new chance at life!"

"What?"

The man stared dumbly at the woman in front of him as she pulled out what looked like a map of some sorts and hung it up in mid air as she looked it over.

"Hmm...but where should I put you?" she wondered. "I can't put you in any of the dimensions that the Bureau exists or else I would cause a massive paradox that could blow everything up again..."

"Wait a minute, I don't want to go back!" the man said quickly. "There's no point if...if..."

"If you can't see your family?" the woman finished for him, causing him to look away. "If that's the case, then wouldn't staying in this space be the same punishment, only worse due to the fact that you cannot see or speak with anyone at all?"

"On the contrary. Being limited to none is far more acceptable than being limited to many with exception. What is the point of being able to do something when the thing you wish for the most is our of your grasp? It would simply be an empty void."

"I suppose you're right," the woman nodded, looking somewhat...wistful as she looked over at an empty spot in the world as if she could see something there. "If you are able to have everything but the thing you wish for the most, then what's the point of having anything at all."

"So you understand?" the man asked. "So leave me be."

"I can't do that," the woman replied. "Just leaving you in here is too sad. At the very least, I can give you a new life for your hard work...ah, and I know just the perfect spot."

"Oi, wait a moment! If you do that, there's a chance that I'll..."

"Good luck out there, Zero-san," the woman said with a wave.

"Wait a minute!" Zero said as he felt himself being pulled by an invisible force. "Wait a minute here!"

"I couldn't stop it even if I wanted to," Ultimate Madoka said with a smile. "That child has already summoned you. Therefore, you must go to her."

"But if I go like this...the darkness will..."

"Then you should try had to make sure you don't lose to that darkness. You are a copy of the the man of miracles. Therefore, you should make your own miracle once more."

"Maaaadoookaaaa!"

_But it was too late as the former Darkness of the Book of Darkness was pulled into the green vortex behind him._

* * *

Louise was not having a good day.

Granted, half of her time in the Tristain Academy of Magic were not good days, particularly the ones where she had practical lessons, for she was known as Louise the Zero. Louise the Zero, a cruel nickname given to her by her classmates for failing to successfully cast even the simplest of spells. Louise the Zero for her zero talent.

Despite the cruel names and jeers, she studied hard, determined to prove that she was not a failure. Her grades in theory were one of the best out of all the second years, but that does not make up for her failure in the practicals.

But now, she could not fail this practical course.

As a second year, she was expected to summon a familiar to help her as a mage. She absolutely cannot fail this. If she failed then it would really prove that she was worthless as a mage.

"Whenever you are ready, Miss Valliere," came the voice of the professor overseeing the Springtime Familiar Summoning, Professor Jean Colbert.

Louise took a deep breath as she stepped up to the summoning circle. She then released it as she began her incantation.

_"Please let this work,"_ she thought with all her might. "_A manticore. A dragon. It doesn't matter. I'll even settle for a mouse! Just let me summon something!__"_

"Answer to my guidance!" Louise spoke the final line out loud as a huge explosion erupted around her. She started coughing as she waved her hand in front of her face trying to clear the smoke and dust, as well as ignore the sudden bout of laughter and jeering coming from her fellow classmates.

Finally the dust began to clear as something white entered her field of vision.

Her eyes widened at the sight as the jeering and laughter died instantly. It wasn't a manticore, a dragon or a mouse. It was something completely different.

It was a man. A man with stark white hair and regal golden eyes.

He was down on all fours, looking at her in shock. Considering he was probably plucked from whatever hole he lived in, that is to be expected.

He was also naked from the waist up and she could see several red lines extending from the area around the man's heart stretch all across his body.

The next instant a burst of black flame erupted from his body in the form of wings.

"**What have you done?**" the man asked as he stood up. "**WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?**"

The man let out a roar of anger as his wings shaped themselves into what seemed to be giant claws and attempted to bring them down on her.

The next thing she knew, she had been grabbed by the scruff of her neck and tossed aside, just before the claw could crush her.

"**What have you done? What have you done? What have you done?**"

The man was repeating the same phrase over and over as if it was some kind of mantra as he held his hands to his face and started walking back and forth on the summoning circle. The claws beside him were dragging across the field, causing the grass below him to wither and die.

"I must ask you to calm down!" Colbert shouted as he strode to the front. "I will not let you harm my students in any way!"

"**Need to go back! Can't be out here! Will destroy! Need containment! Go away! Go away! Get away from me!**"

The claws faded back into the black wings before two large pillars shot out from the wings and began to close at Colbert like a pair of shears.

"Everyone, get back!" Colbert shouted as he ducked under the pillars which smashed together just inches above his head before dissolving. "It's dangerous!"

"B-but that's my familiar!" Louise shouted.

"**Dangerous! Yes I am! Need containment! Get away!**"

She wasn't sure what her familiar was. It certainly looked human but those wings told her that it couldn't be one, unless he was a very powerful fire mage. He was screaming something about containment...perhaps he had been locked away somewhere for safety...either his own or for the people around him.

Considering the damage he was doing to the field around just by standing there, it may be a bit more of the latter than the former.

"What sort of containment?" Colbert asked.

"**Book! Need a book! Give me a book!**"

At that instant, Louise heard something land beside her and turned to look.

It was the book that Tabitha, the girl who had summoned a dragon as her familiar, had been reading. It seems that she had threw it towards her.

Without really thinking about it, she grabbed the book and ran forward with it towards her familiar with the book in front of her like a shield, ignoring her teacher calling for her to come back.

And then she hit the man, knocking him over, and causing the wings to vanish as they landed on the dead grass.

"Pentagon of the Five Elemental Powers; bless this this humble being and make him my familiar!"

It was an instinctive action. Taking advantage of the situation, she was able to complete the ritual as she pressed her lips against his.

Then, without warning, the man's body began to burn in the same black flame from earlier. Louise quickly threw herself off the man in fear, but even though she had been on top of him, she felt no heat from the flames.

The man slowly stood up as the book she had been holding floated up in front of him. Then, his body began to fade away, leaving only a large black fireball floating in midair before it flew into the book.

A blinding light shot out from the book as the pages began flipping through as if someone was reading it, causing the letters of the book to fly out and form several rings around the book before they too vanished, leaving behind only a blank book that floated down to her, as if telling her to grab it.

With shaking hands, she complied, holding the book in two hands as if it would suddenly burn her.

There was a small searing sound, like meat being grilled in a kitchen as several white runes began engraving themselves on the cover of the book.

"Umm...Professor?" Louise asked as she turned to Colbert who moved up closer and examined the cover of the book.

"Yes...those definitely look like familiar runes, Miss Valliere..." Colbert replied with a nod. "Though I've never heard of a creature sealing itself within a book when it is summoned before..."

Louise looked down at the book in her hands and slowly opened it.

The pages were empty.

Whatever the familiar had done had removed all text from the book except for the familiar runes on the front cover.

"All gone?" came a voice beside Louise.

She surprised herself by not starting at the voice as she quickly turned to see a pair of eyes behind glasses staring at her.

"The words?" Louise asked and Tabitha nodded. "Yeah...the pages are empty..."

Tabitha stared at the book for a moment, taking it from Louise's hands and flipping through the pages to check for herself before her shoulders lifted and sank for a second and handed the book back to Louise without another word.

Louise stared back down at the runes on the cover of the book.

What exactly was that human-like thing she had summoned. Was it some sort of fire spirit? She certainly never heard of any fire mage that used black flames.

Did this mean she was a fire mage?

Louise made a face at the fact that she shared an element with Zerbst.

A northern wind blew past her, causing her to close her eyes as some dust was blown into them.

When she opened her eyes again, she realized it wasn't the wind, but rather her classmates using levitation to head back to their rooms and prepare for dinner.

And no one bothered to let her know.

Louise let out a small sigh as she looked down at the book in her hands. Her familiar had locked itself in the page somehow, calling it "containment."

"How do I get you out?" she wondered as she flipped through the pages.

Where was the honor or prestige in having a book for a familiar?

"_**Why do you want me out?**_"

"Eep!"

Louise flung the book from her hands, only for it to stop in midair and turn so that its cover was facing toward her.

"_**What do you want human?**_" the voice in her head asked. "_**Why have you taken me from my fate?**_"

"I...I was...what are you...?" Louise stammered out.

"_**I?**_" the voice asked, suddenly sounding melancholic. "_**I used to be something...something great...something that was supposed to protect the things I cared for. Then I became a destroyer...hurting everything I was supposed to protect...forcing them to destroy me. Now I have nothing...I am nothing...just a spirit without purpose...**_"

The book then floated closer to Louise's face and she suddenly felt as if the spirit's golden eyes were staring through her soul.

"_**Unless...you have called me to fulfill some sort of purpose once more child...?**_"

"I...I summoned you to be my familiar," Louise said, feeling a little bit braver as it doesn't seem like the spirit could do her any harm in its current state. "You are to protect me and serve me until one of us is no more."

"_**You intend to use me like the knight program? An...interesting proposal.**_"

Louise swallowed some saliva that she didn't notice had accumulated in her mouth.

She had to be careful now. Spirits are tricky beings that can easily turn a deal in their favor. She had to pay attention to every word that was said and try to see if they could be reinterpreted in another way. So far, it seems like the spirit was considering the familiar role even though she had already bound it. She wondered if Brimir's ritual could even bind a flame spirit when she wasn't even sure the elves could do so.

She knew it was possible to make pacts, contracts, with spirits, but to bind one to one's will without any lasting harm...was that possible?

"_**Before I consider this further...**_" the spirit spoke again as the book spun around in the air, as if looking around the grounds. "_**What exactly do you hope to gain from this partnership? From the looks of things, you are in some sort of primitive magic academy. Devices would not be known to you...the scent of the Incubators is absent so it appears to be a natural development without alien influences. The Linker Core count in the castle is absolutely astronomical. Just how can one fit over three hundred students here?**_"

"Three hundred?" Louise repeated in confusion. "There are only sixty students here with about a dozen teachers living here at the moment..."

The book stopped its rotation before slowly turning its cover back toward her.

"_**Are you serious?**_" the spirit asked in shock, the image of the golden eyes opening wide filled Louise's mind as it did. "_**All that untapped magical potential...such a waste. Though, I suppose it is a choice whether one chooses to harness their gift.**_"

"Where on earth did you get three hundred?" Louise asked.

"_**Can you not see it? No...no...I suppose the civilization is too primitive to develop that skill just yet. What a waste...what a waste. A castle filled with humans that possess fully functional Linker Cores and yet only a little more than a fifth of the occupants actually choose to use it.**_"

"Are...are you saying the commoners...the servants...can also use magic?"

"_**I see...how interesting. A primitive society with a caste system where the ones that have the knowledge to use magic horde it to themselves and rule over the ones that don't. How...Belkan. It would be best to do away with such things, but you humans always have trouble believing things that you do not witness with your own eyes. But let's put that aside for now...what do you hope to gain by entering into a contract with me?**_"

"I..." Louise began, trying to think of a way to put her wishes into words without sounding like the desperate little girl that she knew she was but would never admit to. "I want to be able to prove to people that I have magic. I know I do! Those explosions do not just come from nothing! When a commoner waves a wand, nothing happens, but whenever I even attempt to cast a spell all I get are explosions! There has to be something wrong! I want to know what!"

From an outsider's perspective, it must be a strange sight, a noble yelling at a book that was floating in the air, but Louise didn't care.

If anyone could help her figure out what was wrong with her magic, then a spirit should be able to.

"_**I see...you wish for protection, understanding, and...acknowledgment...**_" came the reply in her head again. "_**A simple endeavor I suppose...however, my current...lodgings will be insignificant.**_"

"What do you mean?"

"_**It appears you used a storybook as my cage. It is too small. If you were to find a larger tome...with at least six hundred and sixty-six pages, my power will be able to manifest and be controlled better.**_"

"Oh. The book isn't mine though. Another student threw it at me to use on you. She was...upset that you removed all the text too."

"_**Returning the words back into this book once I have left it is but a simple matter. I have recorded and memorized the entire contents and it would take but a second for me to rewrite the text.**_"

"I can do that..." Louise nodded as she took the book in her hands and started back toward the castle. "Why six hundred and sixty-six pages though? That seems like a strange number."

"_**It is a number of great power,**_" the spirit replied."_**I will show you what I mean once you find one.**_"

"...You won't start rampaging around and try to kill people like before...will you?"

"_**That depends entirely on you...Mistress.**_"

Louise bit her lip to keep herself from smiling.

Just like that?

The spirit had already accepted her as its master?

No, it was too easy. There has to be a catch somewhere.

It will probably show up when she finds it a larger book.

That's what it probably meant by it was up to her.

If she couldn't control it when it releases its power, then it will go on a rampage.

As it was right now, it was weak and in her control, that's why it wanted a new book.

But she had already naively said she would do so.

"_**You seemed to have stopped moving, Mistress,**_" came the spirit's voice again. "_**Is something the matter? Are you feeling ill?**_"

"No...no, it's just that I didn't think you would accept me as your master so quickly," Louise admitted truthfully as she continued walking and the spirit fell silent.

Louise hoped that it hadn't figured out that she knew what it was up to.

* * *

After about two hours in the library, Louise finally came across a book that managed to fit the spirit's requirements and was back in her room with the tome and the spirit's book on her table.

"_**Yes...this will do nicely...**_" the spirit muttered as if it was contemplating something.

"Are you sure?" Louise asked. The book she found was old, tattered, and moldy. It obviously hadn't been used, or even touched in decades, and was in a language that seemed like archaic Germanian. What's more, it seemed to be a cookbook, not some magic tomb.

"_**Aesthetics can be dealt with afterward,**_" came the reply as the book floated up and started flipping through its pages again.

Suddenly, the pages froze and a large black magic circle appeared in front of the book.

The tome below it flipped open as well and like before, the letters began pulling themselves out of the pages, circling around the smaller book before a flash of light filled her entire room, causing Louise to throw her arms in front of her face to shield it.

When the light died down, she slowly opened her eyes.

In front of her was Tabitha's novel, completely filled with words depicting some adventure story while the cook book seemed to have transformed.

The cover was sleek and black. The familiar runes were transcribed on the spine while the cover contained the image of a magic circle with a dragon surrounding it and breathing silver flames.

"_**Now then...to see if you are capable of manifesting my full power while keeping me contained...**_"

[_**Anfang!**_]

And Louise's world exploded in pain.

As she struggled to keep her eyes opened, she saw that the Tome had opened up and seemed to be floating above her as a strange glowing sphere was coming out of her chest.

That was where the pain was coming from, it was due to the fact that it was extracting the sphere from her chest, like her heart was being ripped out.

"_No!_" she thought desperately as she tried to close her hands around it. "_That is mine! I won't let you take it! Spirit or not! That...is...MINE!_"

The pain began to grow and grow as she tugged on the sphere to the point where it suddenly vanished.

At first she thought it was because the spirit had stopped playing tug of war, but the sphere was still there, and she was still pulling on it so it couldn't have been that. Perhaps it was one of those situations where the pain becomes so much that the body just stops feeling it.

It certainly helped her thinking a bit.

Now she could see the sphere more clearly without her mind going numb from the pain. It seemed fairly lumpy, as if there were actually two spheres stuck together.

[_**Mitte!**_]

The spheres began to separate from each other all the while being drawn closer to the book.

"_No! I won't let you! I will win! I will not lose!_"

And she pulled with all her might, forcing the now two separate spheres back into her.

[_**Ende!**_]

And with that, she fell onto the floor with a small thud.

The last thing she saw as sight left her was a flash of white hair and golden eyes kneeling over her with a soft smile.

"Congratulations," the man said. "Sleep well, Mistress."

"Stupid...familiar..."

And she fell asleep to the sound of amused chuckling.

* * *

Zero looked down at the unconscious form of his new mistress before picking her up and placing her down on the bed, removing her cumbersome cloak as he did so.

The girl's linker core was incredible.

So much untapped and pure magic power radiated from within...and what's more, somehow she had two of them.

It was...unique to say the very least.

Still, the girl's Linker Cores didn't provide nearly as much mana as the previous Mistress. Though it was like comparing the size of the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.

One was smaller than the other but both were so huge, did it really even matter?

But the darkness, the corruption, it was still there, festering in the bottom of his heart and soul. It was still there and it defined him, but he would not allow it to control him.

So long as the girl continued to feed him her magic, he will be able to keep it restrained and obedient, and in return, he will help her find the failings in her magic and right them.

But what a strange magic it is.

From what he learned from draining her dual linker cores, there were no circles, no calculations, no equations...just incantations while pointing the foci where you wanted the spell to go...at least for the basic spells like a simple fireball.

The longer, more powerful spells require more concentration and more mana to fuel them. What's more it seems that movement while chanting was difficult, which was why mages summoned familiars. Nothing new there.

Most spells seemed to be based around Mana-Conversion, gathering one's mana and then changing it into an element of their choice which certain mages had more proficiency in one over another but all seemed to be able to use the four base elements (fire, water, wind and earth) to some degree.

Mage Ranks were determined how many times one was able to stack the elements together rather than the overall power of one's Linker Core. Though it might be justified as it seems that a lot more mana is required to stack more than one element, making those that had high ranks probably had large Linker Cores as well.

"And thus I have been called upon to fulfill the role of the Knight Program..." he sighed as he plopped himself onto a chair. "That Witch...just what does she hope to do by sending me out here?"

He then turned his attention toward the bookshelf and fished out one of the books, one that seemed to contain the theory behind this world's magic.

He had nothing to do until his Mistress woke up, especially considering that his only clothes were a thin black top that only covered a bit of his shoulders, leaving his stomach wide open and a pair of equally thin pants that stopped just below his knees, though thankfully nothing was bulging out.

So, he decided to read.

Surprisingly, everything he read ended up being things he already knew from draining the girl's Linker Core, making him wonder just why she had problems with her magic. The girl knew the theory forwards and backwards and yet she claimed to have problems casting her spells.

Perhaps its was because of her dual linker cores which had been fused together? Well, at least they were separated now.

He wondered if he had already unintentionally fulfilled his end of the bargain in freeing up her magic.

Well, perhaps that news might mollify her when she wakes up. If she ever does...

* * *

**Chapter's End Corner**

**Harouki: **This is a message to anyone currently following this story. This is to let everyone know that I am in fact, still alive, and that the new chapters of CMLR:StrikerS and PMMM are coming, but very very slow. Real life has been kicking my ass.

This was an idea I played around with at the end of Movie Wars. What happened to Material-O. Well, he got summoned by someone else. Fun times...fun times...


	4. Code Magi Lyrical Rider Fate of Zero 1

**Code Magi Lyrical Rider: Fate of Zero **

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Day a Demon was Reborn  
**

* * *

The man let out a sigh as he stood behind the sizzling stove and looked out into the dining area.

Thousands of girls of ages eight to sixteen were sitting in various tables of various sizes chatting amongst each other as they dined on the various dishes he made for them.

Of course it was physically impossible for him to make ALL the dishes for so many girls at once.

Which was why the kitchen he was in had enough room to fit at least a hundred people as they worked at cutting boards, other stoves, pots and sinks.

They too were all girls of similar ages.

But that really didn't matter to him.

What mattered was that his "work" was becoming monotonous.

Day in, day out, it was a life he felt that he couldn't really fit into, trapped forever in a fragment between worlds. Whether it would have been better to remain with the billions of other souls passed on from the true world, he wasn't sure, but he was sure if that had been the case, he wouldn't be conscious of his predicament.

Thus when he heard a voice in the distance calling out to him, he reached out and answered it.

And so...he will be reborn anew.

* * *

"Well then..." the man sighed as he looked around his surroundings. "This is interesting..."

He was in a pure black space with only a light shining through what seems to be a doorway, casting a path toward it.

"Is this a summoning?" the man wondered as he walked forward. "Let's see...looks like it's the Grail War then. Class is...Caster? Damn, I was hoping to be Rider...I guess it's because of the little show I put on against the Rebels when I was alive and the fact that I have a link to Akasha in my head. Hah...I hope my 'Master' doesn't get any ideas..."

With nothing else, the man, now labeled Caster, walked toward the light.

Within seconds, he appeared in what seemed to be a living area of a fairly normal looking house. The lights were off but the glow of the TV in the corner illuminated the area well enough. Looking down at the summoning circle below him, he noted that it was a bright red color...paint most likely.

It was probably going to be a pain to clean up later but...well, that's his Master's problem, not his.

Looking down on himself, he recognized what his clothes were now. Pure white robes emblazoned with golden symbols and red circles along with a white hat with a emerald lanyard...the robes he wore when he was alive.

"I ask of you," he said as he closed his eyes. "You who called me, you who requested for me, summoning the Servant of the Caster class...are you to be my master?"

"It worked?" a small voice asked. "I can't believe it worked..."

That didn't sound good. It sounded like he either had a master with a very low self esteem...or someone who attempted the ritual without knowing what it did.

"Umm...you're a Servant, right?" the voice asked, causing him to bite his lip and sigh.

"Indeed. And thus I ask again. Are you to be my M-...ah...!"

He couldn't stop the gasp from escaping his throat as he opened his eyes.

In front of him was a girl, no older than ten, with short brown hair holding a strange book in her hands. She was sitting on a chair of sorts and her feet were resting on a stand connected to the chair. Wheels were attached to both sides of it.

"Y...you...how...?"

"Um...my name is Yagmi Hayate," the girl said with a small bow. "I'm eight years old. It's nice to meet you, Servant-san."

"How...did you summon me?"

"With this book."

She presented the old tattered book in her hands and Caster stepped forward and took it from her.

Flipping the tome open and examining the pages, he saw that it was indeed very old. Several of the pages were missing or damaged but one page had been marked and carefully reconstructed.

"You did this?" he asked, pointing to the page that contained information about the summoning. It had been marked all over with a pen with several furigana written over the harder kanji as well as dulled characters that have been filled in.

"Yes. I didn't understand a lot of the things but I did understand that you can summon a servant if you made a circle like the one in the book. Although...I didn't think it would actually work. Does this mean magic really exists?"

Those eyes. Those eyes full of hope and happiness that he hasn't seen in so long.

If only it were under better circumstances.

"Is your hand all right?" Caster ask as he knelt down in front of Hayate.

"My hand?" Hayate asked as she looked down. "Ah? When did it start bleeding?"

"Here..."A small handkerchief appeared in his hand and he used it to wipe the blood off of her hand. "As I thought...it's here..."

"What is this?"

A red mark had appeared on her hand. It was shaped like a a blade with a guard that had two prongs sticking out on both sides. It was too soft to be dried blood but rather it seems to have been engraved onto her very skin.

"Wow, it looks so pretty," Hayate said as she looked at it.

"This is called a command seal," Caster explained. "You have three of them. With them you can order me to do anything you want and I will be unable to refuse."

"Huh? You mean I can only have you do three things before you go away?"

"No, those three command seals allow you to command me to do something even if I refuse to do it. For example...if you use one to tell me to blow up a house, I will do so even though I do not want to."

"I would never do something like that!" Hayate shouted. "People live in houses!"

"I understand," Caster said quickly as he held up his hand. "It was just an example. You can also use them to have me do some physically impossible things. For example, say you see someone about to be hit by a car out in the city while I am waiting here, and you tell me to save them. I will immediately appear at your side and carry out that order."

"I think I get it..." Hayate nodded. "Then...what happens if I use all three?"

"Well...nothing really," Caster replied with a shrug. "You just can't have me do anything that I do not wish to do anymore. My life is tied to yours now, so as long as you live, I will as well. However, if I die, then that's it for me but you will still live."

"Please don't say something like that!"

"Well, I'm sure that time will be a long ways off," Caster said waving his hand. "But for now..." Sweeping his robe around his back he knelt down in front of Hayate with his hand across his chest. "Servant Caster heeds your summoning, Mistress Hayate. Order me as you see fit."

Hayate frowned at being called that for a moment before looking at her new Servant.

"Then, as your Mistress's first order..." Hayate muttered. "Stop calling me Mistress. Hayate is just fine, okay, Caster?"

"Hahaha, very well. But...I need to ask. Why did you summon me?"

"Well...I live alone in this house," Hayate said, looking around the room they were in. "Although my father's friend sends me money and pays the bills, it's pretty big to take care of by myself and...it's kind of lonely living in a big house alone..."

"Is that right? And...you are aware of what a Servant, is correct?"

"It's the English word for someone who takes care of the house with me, correct?"

Caster stared at her for a long moment before a small laugh escaped his lips.

"Hahaha...as I thought," Caster sighed.

"Is that wrong?" Hayate asked, tilting her head to the side.

"No...that's fine," Caster said as he shook his head. "_Yeah...that's fine. There's no need to worry her about the war just yet. The same with the Book of Darkness...those are all a year away. But..._"

"You wouldn't happen to have any other books like this, do you?" Caster asked as he tapped the summoning book. "A magical looking book?"

"I don't think so...ah, I think there is another one, but I never have been able to open the lock."

"May I take a look at it? I might be able to figure out how to open it," Caster said as his eyes flashed.

"Of course, it's in my room..."

Hayate moved the joystick of her wheelchair and the machine moved forward with Caster following close behind. He was tempted to just push the girl towards it but he had to act like he didn't know anything about this place.

Luckily, the fact that he was looking around in nostalgia could be interpreted as someone interested in seeing something for the first time.

But...without her Knights...this place from his memories that was filled with life warmth...felt empty and dead.

"It's in here," Hayate said as she opened a door and the two of them entered.

Caster's eyes quickly scanned the room before spotting his target.

"It's this, correct?" he asked as he picked up the Book of Darkness, which had been sitting on top of a small dresser on a stand.

"Yes. I was told that it was a family heirloom but I've never been able to open the lock."

"I see..."

Caster examined the book carefully.

When he saw the book before, it didn't have such a strange golden lock on it.

"_Perhaps it was still inactive? No, if it was then her legs wouldn't be crippled. It must be in a passive state so the Wolkenritter need not be out yet. If I remember correctly, Hayate said that the Wolkenritter came out for about half a year before we met...let's see..._"

"Obey my orders," Caster said, his vision tinting red.

Second passed but the book didn't react at all.

"Is something wrong with it?" Hayate asked when he didn't do anything more after that.

"No," Caster replied. "I'm just thinking about a few things. This book is certainly magic, but there is no conventional way of opening it without damaging the knowledge inside. But it will open eventually...perhaps in a year or so."

"And what happens then?"

"What happens then...well...perhaps you'll be able to use the magic inside it yourself."

"Really?"

"It will take a lot of work though. How good are you at math?"

"Umm...what does math have to do with magic?"

"It has everything to do with magic...I guess by that reaction, the answer is 'no?'"

"Ugu..."

"Well, we all have to start somewhere my dear little Mistress. Are you going to school?"

"No...I'm not..." Hayate replied, lowering her head slightly.

"_That damned Admiral..._" Caster growled silently. "Would you like to?"

"Can I?"

"It'll take a little work, but I believe we'll be able to get you going eventually...ah, but first we have to do something about the command seals. It will be bad if people thought that your guardians let you get a tattoo at such a young age...how about we have you wear a glove and say that you are covering up a scar you got? Are you left handed?"

"No, I'm right handed."

"Good thing the seals are on your left then. What time is it anyway?"

"Umm...almost midnight, I believe."

"Then it's time for good little girls to go to sleep." Caster set the book back on its stand and turned toward his mistress. "Do you need help getting to bed?"

"I don't _need _help...but I would like it," Hayate replied with a smile.

Caster also cracked a smile as he carefully lifted the girl up and into bed.

"Umm...Caster-san?" Hayate began as she peeked over her covers.

"Yes?"

"Will you be here when I wake up? You're not a dream, right?"

"I will always be there if you need me."

"You promise?"

"Of course. Even if I'm not beside you in person, I will always watch over you. That is a promise."

"Even though we've only just met?"

"Our bond is one that surpasses time and space. Whatever you need, should it be within my power, I shall give it to you. Provided, of course, I do not find the order morally questionable."

"Muu...what kind of person do you think I am? I know the difference between right and wrong."

"Of course you do," Caster said as he ruffled her hair. "Now then, I will explore the house a bit while you sleep. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Caster," Hayate nodded as she turned on her side.

Caster waited for a few minutes before dematerializing out the door and reappearing over his summoning circle.

"Well...I suppose I'll clean this up then," he sighed as he headed toward the kitchen. "Now where was that mop again?"

* * *

Yagami Hayate woke up feeling exhausted.

Looking around, she saw that she was in her bed with no one else in sight.

"Was it all a dream?" she wondered as she rubbed her eyes. As she pulled her hands away, she saw the three red markings on the back of her hand. "The...Command Seals? Caster...?"

"You call?"

Hayate jumped as the Servant Caster appeared out of thin air in front of her bed, still dressed in the white robes he had been summoned in. Ah, that's right, she would have to get him some clothes, wouldn't she?

"Would you like me to deliver your breakfast in bed or would you prefer to move to the dining room?"

"Breakfast?" Hayate repeated. "You cooked?"

"As a Servant, I do not need to sleep, therefore I spent my time wandering the house, the area around the house and a bit of the city before coming back to watch some TV. Once dawn arrived, I thought it would be a good time to get started on making your breakfast, like a good Servant. Or was it too much for me to do?"

"No, thank you," Hayate said quickly. "But...can we cook breakfast together next time?"

"I don't believe that will be efficient..."

"It's not about being efficient! It's about having fun."

"If that is what you wish, then of course."

"That's right. As for breakfast...can we eat together in the dining room...or do you not need to eat either?" she asked.

"I don't need to eat," Caster replied. "It is unnecessary for me to survive."

"Ohh..." Hayate said, a little dejected.

It must have shown on her face because Caster turned towards her for a moment before adding, "But, while I do not need to eat to survive doesn't mean I can't eat. I just haven't eaten anything in a long time so I do miss it..."

"Then let's eat together!"

"Haha, if that is what you wish."

* * *

Hayate never really ate much for breakfast. There wasn't much need to do so since she always ate alone. Usually a slice of toast and two eggs sufficed.

However, the dishes in front of her looked too delicious to simply pass up. Scrambled eggs with cheese, diced ham and bacon, two slices of toast, a small salad along with a slice of tomatoes.

"Is it too much?" Caster asked as he sat down in front of her.

"No!" Hayate shook her head quickly. "I just don't know where to start."

"Well, do start before it gets cold," Caster said as he spread some jam onto his toast.

Eventually, Hayate settled on starting with the eggs. She let out a small squeal after the first bite and quickly helped herself to another.

"I take it it is is to your liking?"

"It's so good! Can you teach me how to cook this well?"

"I'm not a very good teacher when it comes to cooking," Caster replied. "At most I could probably just watch over you while you practice but that's it."

"I don't mind. It will be fun either way."

Once the food was all cleared up, the two of them piled the dishes in the sink and started to wash them.

"Umm...Caster?" Hayate began as she dried one of the dishes that he handed her.

"Yes, Hayate?" Caster replied.

"What exactly are you?" she asked. "I mean...I know you are a Servant, but I don't really understand what you are. I never knew that something could live without eating or sleeping."

"Well...I suppose that's technically true," Caster admitted. "Needing to eat and sleep to live that is."

"I don't understand."

"All living creatures need to eat and sleep to live. That is an undeniable fact, Hayate."

"But what does...eh...?"

"Do you understand now?" Caster asked as he placed the last of the dirty dishes in front of her and turned off the faucet.

"You're...a zombie?"

It was a spectacular and exaggerated fall that Caster did, nearly falling headfirst into the wet sink.

"That's wrong?" Hayate asked as Caster slowly pulled himself upright.

"That is completely wrong..." Caster deadpanned. "Try again."

"Then..." Hayate tried to think of what else didn't need to eat to survive. Wait, didn't Caster suddenly appear in her room earlier? "A ghost?"

"That's closer," Caster nodded. "A Servant is a Heroic Spirit, someone who has accomplished something great while they were alive, that is summoned using the ritual you used and given a pseudo-physical form..."

"Oh...wait...you're a hero?" Hayate asked quickly as she stared at him. "Certainly your clothes don't look normal...they look very old fashioned too...who were you?"

"I am Caster," Caster replied. "That's all you need to know, right? A name is simply something someone uses to refer to another person and therefore that is my name now."

"Muu...why don't you want to tell me your old name?"

"Because it's no longer my name anymore. If you wish to know it, the only way to do so will be to force me to tell you with a Command Seal."

"Caster...do you not like your old name?"

"Yes. I changed my name constantly to avoid being related to that name in anyway. That is why I am Caster now as well."

Hayate fell silent at that.

"I'm sorry," Caster sighed. "It's probably too complicated for you to understand. Just know that my family was never really a 'family' to me. Nearly every last one of them were murderers or opportunists that stomped on the pride and lives of others for their own amusement. I think I've ever only truly liked two of my sisters and that was it."

"I see..." Hayate said quietly. "Being an adult is hard?"

"It is...very hard. As a child, good and evil are easy to see. As an adult, it becomes much harder."

"But...you're a hero aren't you?"

"I highly doubt people see me as a hero. A Heroic Spirit is merely someone who did something great and became well known throughout the world. A mysterious serial killer could also become a Heroic Spirit if his killing methods, his victims, and his ability to evade capture became known to the entire world...that's not to say I was a serial killer of course."

"How can such a person be called a Hero?" Hayate asked. "That's not heroic at all!"

"No, no it isn't," Caster agreed. "But that is how it works. You are lucky that you got me though. Imagine what would have happened had you gotten one of those monsters instead."

Yes, that would have been very bad wouldn't it?

"B-But I got you so everything is okay," Hayate said as she placed both hands on her hips and nodded before blinking in realization. "Wait...why would a hero be doing household chores?"

"Because I enjoy doing them?" Caster offered. "You wanted a Servant that could help you around the house and therefore you got a Hero who had enjoyed doing household chores when he was alive. It's really not that difficult to comprehend."

"Ah, that makes sense," Hayate nodded as she finished drying the last of the dishes.

"Of course. So what did you plan on doing today?"

"Well...I was thinking of getting you some normal clothes," Hayate said pointing towards Caster's outfit. "I don't think you should be wearing that outside. I don't think even the Britannian Empress wears clothes like that anymore."

"Indeed..." Caster nodded slowly. "Then I shall leave that up to you. I shall follow you like this."

As soon as he said so, Caster vanished without a trace. The water that had been on his hands hung in the air for the briefest of seconds before landing on the ground in a splash.

Even though Hayate could not see her Servant, she could "feel" that he was still around. More specifically, somewhere right in front of her.

"Are you in front of me right now?" Hayate asked as she waved her hand in the area where Caster had just been standing at.

"I am," came the reply. "As I said, I am something akin to a ghost now, therefore I can become invisible and move through walls and the like just like a ghost should. This way I can keep an eye on you and I won't be drawing attention to myself.

"That sounds very convenient."

"I suppose it is."

* * *

Caster followed his young Mistress by flying above her as she made her way through the streets.

"Why don't you take the bus?" he asked her.

"Because this way you can see the city during the day," Hayate replied.

"There's no need to go out of your way for my sake."

"It's fine. Besides, it's good to get out once in a while."

"Once in a while?" Caster replied, his invisible features narrowing.

"Oh nothing, don't mind me," Hayate said quickly. "Now stop talking or else someone will think I'm talking to myself like a crazy person."

Caster obeyed but his face remained dark, not that anyone could actually see it of course.

Come to think of it, he had never even thought about how Hayate had been dealing with the corruption of the Book of Darkness without the Wolkenritter around. How exactly was she getting to and from the hospital anyway? How in the hell could anyone expect a crippled eight year old girl to do that alone?

"_I don't care if I bring down the Bureau on our heads a full year early. If I see either of those damn cats again I will go with the original plan in dealing with them. Geass with an extra helping of musket bullet into the skull and a grenade to-go and eat at home with their master._"

One can't say his timeless existence with Emiya didn't affect him negatively in anyway. Though...it might have just inched him toward the Neutral side of Evil from the Lawful side.

He looked around idly as he read some of the signs and billboards on the streets,

"_So instead of Umihara, we're in Uminari...or at least, the border between Uminari and Fuyuki? Guess that means the Puella aren't around...or do they even exist in this time? A quick check...yes...yes they do. Well...now...even Mami? Oh, looks like someone saved her family from the crash. You're a good kid, boy. While I'm here...hahaha...looks like everyone is doing well too. Kallen's still piloting Knightmares it seems. They seem to have hit a glass ceiling with the ninth generation Lancelot Albion and Guren SEITEN though. I suppose it's all theory now that there is no active reason to produce war machines. She's looking well though...for a fifty-one year old woman. Suzaku's still alive of course and still Zero. Nunnally's...still Empress. C.C.'s...around I guess. Same as always._"

As he had planned, peace existed in the world as it was truly united under the United Federation of Nations with the occasional madman stirring up trouble. Crime lords, religious zealots, just plain crazy people...the normal non-world shattering troubles that would happen regardless.

"_Well, I suppose it's my fault for not taking that into account,_" Caster shrugged. "_Still, it's a good way to keep them on their toes...hmm...I wonder if I should...no, I'll leave them be. They've earned their peace. Though I do wonder why Jeremiah is working on an Orange Plantation when he was so adverse to the idea before. Irony? Or is it just his Orange fixation?_"

"Caster? Are you there?" Hayate asked as she looked around.

"I'm always here," Caster replied. "Is this the store?"

"That's right," Hayate nodded and wheeled herself in.

"Everyday fashion doesn't seem to have changed all that much? What year is it?"

"2052 a.t.b.," Hayate replied before turning in his direction. "Umm...if you don't mind me asking. What year was it when you...you know?"

"2018 a.t.b."

"Oh...did you...during the World War?"

"I lived through several wars in my time. That was when Britannia was still under the reign of Charles zi Britannia and Japan was still Area 11. But that's all you're getting from me, Hayate."

Hayate simply nodded in defeat as they went over to the men's section.

"Do you see anything you like?" Hayate whispered as she wheeled herself through the aisle.

"Hmm...how about that jacket? That red one."

"This?"

"Yeah...ah, the gray one too...wait...how many clothes are you planning to get me?"

"Enough so that you don't wear the same one two days a week."

"It's your money."

"Would this even fit you?" Hayate asked as she held up the red jacket.

"One way to find out," Caster said. "Could you find an empty changing room? Carry the jacket and that pair of black slacks with you"

Hayate pulled a pair of pants off the rack and found an empty room.

"Is this okay?" she asked, only for a hand to stick out of the room and grab the clothes off her lap.

"I think they will work just fine," Caster said as he pulled back the curtain. "What do you think?"

"Wow, you look great!" Hayate said as she clapped her hands. "Wait, what did you do with the tags?"

"Got rid of them."

"That's stealing!"

"They're just clothes."

"It's still stealing!"

"Fine." Caster snapped his fingers and the tags reappeared on the clothing before closing the curtain and handing the clothes back to Hayate. "Hurry and pay for them then, Miss Lawful Good."

"What's wrong with being good?" Hayate let out a small huff as she headed toward the cashier to pay for the clothes before heading back towards Caster and handing him the clothes again.

"That was a wasted ten minutes," he said as he dressed and came out of the changing room.

"But it was a lawful ten minutes," Hayate countered.

Caster simply sighed and didn't bother arguing with her anymore as they continued their shopping.

An hour later, Caster was the proud owner of ten new shirts, seven new jackets, nine new pairs of pants, and two pairs of shoes. While Hayate had a pair of fingerless gloves around her hands.

"Burning money are we?" he asked as they walked out of the store. His purchases were hanging in a small basket on the back of Hayate's wheelchair as he pushed her along.

"I guess we did buy a little much, didn't we?" Hayate admitted. "But it was my first time shopping with and for someone else...so..."

"It's fine," Caster said. "Thank you for your generosity. Is there anything else you would like to do now that I can accompany you with?"

"Umm...can we go to the park?"

"You're the Mistress, not me. If you want to go then we go."

"Muuu...I don't want to force you to do anything though."

"You are clearly not understanding how this Master/Servant relationship is supposed to work, are you?"

"Sorry..." Hayate mumbled. "But...this is kind of...nice..."

Caster didn't say anything, having a good idea of what she was talking about as he wheeled her toward the nearby park.

"Did you just want to enjoy the sunshine?" he asked as he parked her beside a bench and sat down on it himself. "Because we could do that at your house as well."

"But the scenery is nice here and you could feel the breeze...ah..."

Caster turned toward toward the direction the girl was looking at. Two girls around Hayate's age had ran up to a man sitting on a bench with a notebook on his lap. He must have been working on something interesting because the girls quickly jump onto the bench with him and started looking at what he was doing.

"People you know?" Caster asked.

"No...not exactly," Hayate replied. "I just like people watching and I see those people often...that man seems to be a writer of some sort and those two girls often pulled him away to play. There mother is over there in the shade."

Caster looked to where Hayate was pointing. A woman with long black hair was looking over toward the man with an apologetic look on her face to which the man simply gestured that it was okay with his hand before setting his notebook to the side to play with the girls.

"That looks like it happens a lot," Caster noted.

"Yes, I think they pull him away every time he comes to write here," Hayate replied. "But...ah!"

Caster's hand quickly shot in front of Hayate's face, catching a wayward ball that had flew toward the girl's head, causing the girl to recoil in shock.

"Oi...be more careful," Caster said as he stood up as the children that have been playing with the ball to come up to them, including the girls from earlier. "You could hurt someone."

"We're sorry..." the two girls said, lowering their head head in apology.

Caster's eyes narrowed as he looked at the the girls from earlier. Now that they were right in front of him, he could feel a little bit of magic energy coming from both of them. He couldn't risk Hayate being found out with him around her.

"Just be more careful next time," Caster said as he held the ball out to them. "Let's go, Hayate."

"Uh...okay?" Hayate asked as she allowed herself to be wheeled away by her Servant. Once they were a good distance away, she spoke up again. "What's wrong?"

"Those girls were Magi," Caster replied. "The writer too."

"Magi?"

"People who can use magic. If we stay too long then there is a chance that they or someone they know will figure out what I am and attempt to take me from you."

"Eh? Can they do that?"

"I don't know, but it doesn't mean they won't try, even if it means ripping your arm off in an attempt to do so. I'm not saying that girl or her mother might do it, but it doesn't mean that someone else wouldn't so I am simply sliding on the side of caution."

"Does...that mean we can't go on walks like this anymore?" Hayate asked.

"No, it just means I will have to be more careful in the future. It is not like every single person we run into will be a Magus. I could probably find the location of every Magus in both cities within the next month if I devoted the time to search at every possible dwelling."

"Breaking and entering is a crime," Hayate said immediately.

"I would not be breaking and entering. I would simply be entering unannounced. Certainly it would be rude but I am not breaking the lock. Ghosts don't need doors after all."

"Caster...don't make me do it," Hayate warned as she raised her left hand.

"Fine...I will simply attempt to look from the outside."

"That's a good Servant," Hayate said as she turned around and patted his hand.

"Don't treat me like a dog..." Caster sighed. "I suppose I should be grateful that you aren't attempting to pat me on the head-"

"_Help me!_"

Caster spun around, his eyes wide with shock.

"_Mami?_" he thought. "_Impossible...she isn't a Magical Girl in this world...!_"

"Caster what was that_?_" Hayate asked.

"You heard it too?"He asked out loud.

"Yes...someone was calling for help..." Hayate said as she held a hand to her head. "It sounded like it was inside my head..."

"It was a telepathic message..." Caster explained. "A Mage is out there and is in trouble..."

"Caster, please look for them!"

"Are you sure? If they realize what I am..."

"Someone is in trouble! What's the point of having magic if you can't do some good with it?"

"Very well, my Mistress Hayate," Caster said as he gripped his hands on her wheelchair. "Then we will be moving quickly."

"Yes!"

Caster ran as he pushed Hayate's wheelchair across the sidewalk.

Luckily the sidewalk they were on was empty but they did get a few strange looks from the other pedestrians. A grown man pushing a young girl in a wheelchair at breakneck speed down a sidewalk was a bit out of the ordinary after all.

"Down here!" Caster shouted as he turned the corner down a dirt trail.

"This isn't a normal place that people go to," Hayate said, holding onto her chair as the path got a little bumpy. "Why would someone go down here?"

And then they saw it.

A small little ferret lying beat up on the ground.

"This is..." Caster mumbled as he stopped and picked the ferret up. It was wearing a small collar that had a red gemstone on it. "As I thought..."

"Excuse me!" a voice called out to them. "Did you call out for help?"

Both Master and Servant turned around and saw another young girl around Hayate's age wearing a white school uniform with her hair in two side tails.

"No, we didn't..." Caster replied, trying to sound as ignorant as possible as he turned his head toward her. "We didn't hear anyone else call for help either."

"I-is something wrong?" Hayate asked, seeming to catch on that they should play ignorant.

"_Takamachi Nanoha...I see...so this is how she got dragged into it..._"

"I was sure the call came from over here..." Nanoha said as she looked around.

"I don't know what to say," Caster continued. "I do know that this little guy was the only thing around here though."

Caster turned all the way around so that she could see the ferret in his arms.

"Ah...what happened to it?" Nanoha asked as she held her hands out to it.

"I don't know," Caster replied honestly as he handed Nanoha the ferret. "He might be someone's pet though. Maybe it got lost or escaped its carrier."

"Nanoha!"

Caster turned his eyes away from Nanoha toward the new voices to see the girl's friends, Tsukimura Suzuka and Alisa Bannings, coming up to them.

"What's that in your hands?" Alisa asked.

"An animal?" Suzuka asked.

"Yeah," Caster nodded as he looked behind him. "I found it lying on the path. For now let's take it to the vet...is there one near by?"

"I think there was one around here..." Alisa nodded.

"Let me call my my house and ask!" Suzuka said as she quickly pulled out her phone.

* * *

Thankfully there was a vet just at the other end of the forest so they were able to hurry there.

Nanoha gave the ferret to Hayate at Caster's suggestion since she had the lowest chance to drop him as Caster quickly pushed her across the dirt road with the other girls struggling to keep up with him.

"H-He's faster than he looks..." Alisa panted and the two girls agreed.

The vet didn't need to spend much time to treat the ferret.

"The wound isn't all that deep," she told them. "But it certainly looks pretty weak. It's probably been on its own for a while."

"Thank you for your help then, Doctor," Caster said with a small bow.

"Thank you very much!" the girls said as well.

"No need to thank me," the vet said. "It was no problem at all."

"But really..." Caster said as the girls crowded around the ferret. "I didn't think ferrets were native to Japan. You'd think it's owner would have kept a better eye on it. And this jewel..."

He poked the ferret in the side and it suddenly woke up and looked around in confusion.

"Ah, it woke up!" Hayate said.

The ferret looked at the people in the room, stopping for a second on Hayate and Nanoha before turning toward Caster and flinching away from him.

"Huh...it doesn't seem to like me," Caster sighed with an amused smile. "Even though I was the one who found him."

The ferret backed away slowly until it turned its gaze back at Nanoha as if begging her to take him away from Caster.

"It seems to like Nanoha though," Alisa noted.

Nanoha slowly lifted her hand up and held it towards the ferret's head. The ferret sniffed at it for a moment before it, to Caster's surprise, licked her finger.

The girls suddenly started cooing at it while Hayate turned to Caster.

"What's wrong? Your making a weird face," she said.

"Am I?" he asked as he placed a hand on his chin.

"Ah, are you jealous that the ferret likes Nanoha-chan but not you?"

"Not at all," Caster replied. "I'm just wondering why it was out there and what injured it. The only thing in the area was the ferret."

"In any case," the vet interrupted. "It would be best to let it get some rest now. So I'll watch over it overnight and you all can come visit it in the morning."

"We understand!" the girls said as Caster pushed himself off the wall.

"Then, let's get going, Hayate," he said as he placed his hands on her wheelchair.

"Okay," Hayate nodded before turning to the other three. "Then...goodbye you three."

"Goodbye!" the three of them said as they ran off.

"They seemed like nice girls didn't they?" Caster asked as he wheeled Hayate back to her house.

"Yeah," Hayate nodded. "I hope the ferret will be okay."

"I'm sure he will be just fine. Shall we go shopping for dinner?"

The bright smile on Hayate's face was all the answer he needed.

* * *

The rest of the day continued without incident. Hayate continued to believe that the ferret was a normal ferret and seems to have forgotten about the call for help. The same could not be said for Caster.

"Today contained nothing but new experiences didn't it?" Caster asked as he tucked his Master into bed. "Did you have fun?"

"Yep," Hayate nodded with a smile. "I'm glad we got to do it."

"So am I. Now, do you need anything? Any aches or pains before I leave you for sleep?"

"Hmm...no, I'm fine," Hayate replied as Caster pulled the covers over her. "Hey, Caster?"

"Hmm?"

"What is this...Servant Status thing I see sometimes when I look at you?"

"Oh, exactly what it sounds like," Caster said vaguely. "Like...a character's status screen from a game."

"Oh...that makes sense...I guess? So...why are all your stats E except for Luck?"

"Because...I'm not very strong compared to other Servants. I use magic for most things after all. As for luck...I suppose it simply means I am very very lucky."

"Why do I get the feeling you're not telling me everything?"

"Because a magician never reveals his secrets," Caster replied with a smile as Hayate puffed her cheeks out at him. "Now now, don't make such a face..."

"You're mean, Caster," Hayate pouted as she turned her back on him.

"Hahahaha."

Caster simply laughed it off as he walked toward the door, casting a small glance at the Book of Darkness as he went.

"Then, goodnight, Hayate," he said as he stood at the doorway with his hand on the light switch.

"Good night, Caster."

Caster nodded as he flicked the switch and closed the door.

"Now then..."

Caster placed a hand on the girl's door and a small light shined in front of it.

"Good, the barrier is in place," he nodded. "She won't hear anything outside of this house. No car crashes, no explosions, no sirens...and no oncoming telepathic messages broadcasting on all frequencies. Yuuno...you really disappoint me."

He heard it again. The young mage calling for help.

"I can't believe I get to witness the moment where Nanoha becomes a mage," Caster said with a small smile. "Though of course...things will be a little different this time."

He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a large black belt buckle with a purple gem in the center of it and placed it in front of his waist. Instantly, a black belt shot out from one end of the buckle around his body and attached itself to the other side of the buckle as a large case appeared on the left side of his waist.

He opened the case and pulled out a card depicting a black armored figure with a blue visor.

"It's been a while, World!" Caster said as he stepped out of the house and into the darkness. "Are you prepared for the return of the Destroyer of Worlds? Henshin!"

[_KAMEN RIDE! DARK DECADE!_]

Nine shadowy figures shot out of the belt buckle, each of them identical save for a different symbol around their belts.

A sphere, a sword, a shield, a triangle, a hammer, a pair of cutlass, a spear, a gun, and an arrow.

Then, all nine of them shot back towards Caster, creating a monochrome armor around his body before ten black bars shot out form the belt and attached themselves to his helmet, causing some color to appear on the armor, making it look like the figure on the card.

"Kamen Rider...Dark Decade...has risen once again from the depths of hell!" Dark Decade declared as he turned and walked through a silvery curtain.

The curtain led him to a rooftop beside the Animal Clinic that the ferret was currently resting in.

"So...what exactly seems to be the problem? Hmm?" Dark Decade turned his head to the side as he spotted someone running down the street, stopping just in front of the clinic. "Nanoha?"

Suddenly, the world changed.

It was subtle but it was definitely there.

A faint rainbow glow now lit up the area as all other human presence in the world vanished.

"A barrier," Dark Decade noted as something shot out from the window of the clinic, crashing into a tree and bowling it over.

"That's...a creature created by the Jewel Seed?" Dark Decade asked as he pulled his case, the Ride Booker, off his waist and turned it into a gun with a flick of his wrist. "I should help them out...but then, I want to see Nanoha's first encounter."

Caster had been expecting something to happen. Anything to happen to cause Nanoha to use her magic against the black furry ball of shadows. What he didn't expect was for Nanoha to grab the ferret and run away from it.

"Perhaps I am thinking too stereotypically about Magical Girls," Caster sighed as he followed Nanoha from the rooftops. "Wait...why _am_ I letting a nine year old girl getting involved in this anyway?"

As soon as he said that, the Shadow materialized above the girl and shot down at her. Caster aimed his gun at the mass of Shadows, blasting it out of the air as Nanoha let out a shriek at the loud noise as she dived behind a telephone pole.

"W-what was that just now?" she shouted. "Is there...someone else here? Did you have a friend?"

"Looks like he gave up the pretense of being a normal ferret," Dark Decade sighed as he aimed at the mass of Shadows again, firing at it to keep it from regenerating properly.

"No," a second voice said. "Whoever it is though, they're keeping the creature busy."

"Then hurry up and do your thing," Caster sighed as he stopped firing for a moment to see whether or not the creature was still moving or not.

It was. But just barely. But he didn't need to shoot it anymore as Nanoha and Yuuno finished the little contract of theirs.

"Raising Heart! Set up!" Nanoha shouted as she raised the red gem above her head.

"Hoh...the first transformation," Caster said as he watched the device shoot a large pink light towards the sky.

Pink feathers fell from the pillar of light as it slowly died away, leaving Nanoha in the white and blue Barrier Jacket as the girl looked around in confusion, with a staff in her hand.

He then pulled out a card, depicting a scepter identical to the one in Nanoha's hand save for the color. It had a black casing with a blue gem in the middle of it instead of a gold casing and a red gem. "Well then, perhaps I should get going too."

With a swift and well practiced movement, Dark Decade slipped the card into the slot in the buckle, the Decadriver, and slammed the two ends together.

[_MAGICAL RIDE! RAGING SOUL DESTRUCTION!_]

"What a mouthful..." Caster sighed as the staff depicted on the card appeared in his free hand. "Now then, Nanoha...show me what you can do..."

The black shadow leaped up into the air again and charged at Nanoha who shrunk back and held Raising Heart in front of her. The device sprung into action and deployed a barrier in front of the girl. The creature slammed into the barrier, only to explode, sending its pieces shooting off like bullets all around the street and into the sky.

"Oi..." Caster sighed, having switched the Ride Booker to sword mode and destroyed all the pieces that had flown in his direction. "What the heck is she doing?"

Nanoha picked Yuuno off the ground and started running down the street again while the creature slowly repaired itself by pulling its pieces out of the walls.

"She really was once an innocent little girl caught up in things she didn't understand, wasn't she?" Caster sighed, recalling how the girl he knew is now a crazy mage who's idea of a successful extraction was to fire a beam through several underground floors and out into the sky. "How quickly they fall off the deep end...ahh, it's moving again."

Caster kept up with the creature as it came up upon Nanoha, who was standing at an intersection with her eyes closed.

"That girl...what is she doing?" Caster shouted as he took aim with his Ride Booker again.

But it proved to be unnecessary as several pink ribbons shot out of the device and wrapped itself around the creature. The creature began to glow in a pink light before it vanished, leaving behind a small jewel on the ground.

"I see...rather than destroying the monster, they seal its power source," Dark Decade said as he rubbed his chin. "However, a magic source with limitless magic is too good to pass up, especially if I am going to have to fight in the Grail War..."

Dark Decade leaped from the roof and landed beside the jewel, causing Nanoha and Yuuno to gasp in shock, as he pointed the tip of Raging Soul toward the Jewel Seed.

[_RECIEVED NUMBER XXI!_] the device declared as the Jewel Seed floated into the gem.

"That was simple," Dark Decade said as he looked at his device.

"W-wait a minute!" Yuuno shouted as he and Nanoha ran up to Dark Decade. "That's a recently excavated Lost Logia! Please return it!"

"Lost Logia?" Dark Decade repeated. "These gems? Who would have thought. All I figured out was that this thing is a massive source of magical energy. If that _is_ the case however, I'll be holding onto it. Or are you saying it will be safer in the hands of a child and a rodent?"

"R-rodent?" Yuuno repeated. "I'm the one in charge of delivering them to-"

"And the fact that they are now scattered across the country of a planet with a general populace largely ignorant of magic outside of storybooks and legends...tells me that you failed magnificently in your duty," Dark Decade said as he placed Raging Soul over his shoulder and pointed his gun at them. "You are free to try and take it back from me, if you can..."

Dark Decade turned toward Nanoha, who flinched a bit at his gaze.

"Although...the fact that you dragged a native girl...an extremely young girl at that...into this mess shows me that you are incapable of making proper judgments. This is not a game, boy. If I hadn't been keeping that thing pinned down, what would have happened?"

"T-that's..."

"_Of course nothing would have happened,_" Dark Decade thought to himself as he smiled under his mask. "_All I did was buy you more time to explain things. The fact of the matter is, you still brought a girl into a dangerous world...especially when the Grail War is so close at hand...she'll be a target._"

"I don't know who you are or where you came from, but this is Earth," Dark Decade said. "And therefore, everything that happens here falls under the jurisdiction of Earth. Aliens have no right to interfere. I suggest you give it up. These...Lost Logia of yours will be mine soon enough.

"W-wait a minute!" Nanoha called out but Dark Decade's device sprung into action.

[_HELL SHOOTER!_]

Several black orbs appeared around him and shot towards Nanoha. The girl quickly swung her device in front of her, allowing it to deploy a barrier again and block his shots.

"Girl..." Dark Decade sighed. "You barely know how to deploy a barrier. As you are now, you'll only get hurt. A device is not a toy. It is a weapon, like a gun. A nine year old should not use it without any training or else they might hurt themselves...or people around them."

He turned to look at the ruined street around them as Nanoha and Yuuno did the same.

"I...but it didn't so it's okay isn't it?" Nanoha asked.

"Of course it's okay," Dark Decade said as the barrier vanished, removing most of the damage on the streets. "That's what magic is for after all."

"What are you planning to do with the Jewel Seeds?" Yuuno demanded.

"Would you believe me if I were to say that I wanted to heal a child?" Dark Decade asked and the two of them stared blankly at the Dark Rider as he placed the Ride Booker back on his waist. "No I suppose not...but there's no reason for me to talk to you anymore so I'll just be on my way."

* * *

Nanoha's hand shook as she held her device in front of her.

"_This person was definitely a bad guy!_" she thought. "_He wears all black, his magic is black, his staff looks like an evil version of Raising Heart...and his mask looks like a skull!_"

She then looked down at the street.

"_If one of those Jewel Seeds can cause all this damage...I can't let him take them...but he's right. I only know how to defend myself..._"

She then looked at the slowly retreating figure of the masked man.

"_But...if that thing really is like an evil version of Raising Heart..._"

She then pointed her device at the man's back as she tried to remember what the man did.

Then, several pink orbs appeared around her.

[_DIVINE SHOOTER!_] Raising Heart declared as they flew toward the man who came to a halt.

[_HELL SHOOTER!_]

Without even turning around, the man created the same amount of black orbs as Nanoha did and they fried back towards her, canceling her shots out.

"Girl..." the man said slowly. "What exactly are you hoping to accomplish with that attack?"

"I...uh..."

"Perhaps I didn't make myself clear the first time," the man continued, flicking open the case that hung on his waist. "This is not a child's game..."

He then placed two fingers on the outer most card and flung it into the air, causing Nanoha's eyes to watch it spin before he caught it in front of his face. The card had a picture of what looked like the man's device except instead of a black ring around the gem it had five prongs around it, making it look like a metal hand was holding onto it.

He then turned the card so that the image was facing his face and slammed it into the belt on his waist.

[_FORM RIDE! RAZING FORM!_] the belt called out.

"Let me show you..." he said as the device in his hand took the shape of the image on the card as he took out yet another card. "...the difference between you and I..."

[_ATTACK RIDE! HELL RAZER!_] the belt declared.

[_HELL RAZER!_] the device repeated.

And the world in front of Nanoha seemed to explode in darkness.

* * *

Chapter's End Corner!

**Harouki**: Fate/Zero + Code Geass + Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha crossover! Also, Cliffhanger! Yarg!

**Lelouch**: What have you done this time...

**Hayate**: Lelouch-san is my servant~

**Harouki:** As you can see, this Lelouch vi Britannia has gone through the events of Code Magi Lyrical Rider but instead of returning back to the World of Magical Girls, this Lelouch stayed in Britannia and performed Zero Requiem! In short, he is the third "Movie Wars" Lelouch.

**Lelouch:** That's fine and all, so what's with the evil Raising Heart?

**Harouki: **Your legend is filled with evil and thus, your Noble Phantasms have changed to reflect them. All stored devices have been changed to an evil version to match Dark Decade, Mr Anti-Hero.

**Hayate**: There is no way my Hero can be this evil!

**Lelouch**: I'm okay with it. So when are you going to get back to your more important fics?

**Harouki**: I am having trouble in that regard. I really really really wanted to get something out on the 29th, which was my birthday but things happened and I couldn't get it out so I'm posting this up as a consolation. There are many butterflies in Fate/Zero as you can see, the most obvious one being that Sakura is not part of the Matou family. Here, Kariya never left and is a proper heir and magus, meaning Sakura never needed to be sent to the Matous. Kariya is also a novelist instead of a photographer. What he writes? Horror.

**Lelouch**: How fitting...

**Harouki**: Well, that's all for now. Maybe I'll leave behind the Servant Sheet for you all to mull over.

* * *

**Servant**: Caster

**Master**: Yagami Hayate

**True ****Name**: Lelouch vi Britannia, The Demon Emperor of Britannia

**Sex**: Male

**Height/Weight:** 178cm 55 kg

**Alignment: **Lawful Evil

**Strength**: E (B)

**Endurance**: E (B)

**Mana**: E (EX)

**Agility**: E(A)

**Luck:** EX

**Class Skills:**

**Territory Creation**: B

(**Riding**: B)

**Personal Skills:**

**Akasha, The Root, The True Gaia Memory EX**

As a member of Akasha's Anti-Demon Force, Caster gains the ability to access the memories of any human who has died within the span of the parallel worlds, allowing him to read the lines of time and predict which future will come to pass. Caster has achieved that what modern Magi strive for despite not being a Magus himself.

**Mystic Eyes EX**: Geass

As the name implies, the Mystic Eyes can bestow a geis upon the victim without the victim's consent, forcing them to obey whatever order Caster gives them until death or until the imposed time limit of the order is reached. However, the target must have a mind similar enough to a human's for it to work and must Caster must maintain eye contact that is not disrupted by any kind of colored glass like sunglasses or contacts. Geass can only work on an individual once, but once the victim is under the spell, not even a God is immune to its effects.

**Noble Phantasm:**

**Zero's Mask: The Symbol of Miracles**: Support B

Range: 1

Maximum number of targets: Self

One of Caster's identities when he was alive, the Man of Miracles, Zero. By donning this Mask, he gains the abilities: Eye of the Mind (True) Rank A, Charisma Rank A+, and Military Tactics Rank B. His Parameters in Strength, Agility, and Endurance also increased.

**Apate Alethia: The Slayer of Demons and Kings**: Anti-Unit C

Range: 1

Number of targets: 1

Functionally just a ceremonial sword Caster had forged for himself, but it was the very same blade that took his life, causing its legend to grow. It's legend has also been as the entire world saw the man who took Caster's life run at impossible speeds, making them believe the sword is enchanted.

Using it grants Caster a boost to his base parameters except Luck by two ranks, but as it was a blade that killed a king, it carries a curse that lowered the parameters of any who calls themselves a king as well as demons by one rank, including Caster himself, making the net boost he receives from it extremely small.

**Dark** **Decadriver and Magical Ride Booker: The Destroyer of Worlds**: Anti-Unit A

Range: 1-5

Maximum number of targets: 1-50 person

Through an extra contract with the World of C, Caster has become the Dark Rider. When donning the armor, Caster becomes Dark Decade, the embodiment of destruction of the world and increases his parameters except for luck to extremely high levels compared to normal and gives him the Riding Skill. The Ride Booker also transforms into a gun or a blade to Caster's will.

Dark Decade's powers come in the form of the Magical Girl Cards Caster had acquired in his life by copying their powers. He has ten sets in total. Nine Magical Girl sets and then the Dark Decade Set. However, because he bears the entire world's hatred, the weapons have become dark and corrupted versions of their former glory and suffered a rank down in several instances, requiring more prana to create and sustain their effects.

**Stored Devices**

**_Raging Soul Destruction – The Corrupted Divinity_**

**_Trident Thunder – The Corrupted Lightning_**

**_Mistilteinn – The Corrupted Flame_**

**_König Stahl – The Corrupted Lord_**

**_Storm Cutlass  
_**

**_Serpent Spear  
_**

**_Burst Musket  
_**

**_Sand Shield  
_**

**_Thorn Bow  
_**

**Shinkiro: The Mirage of the Zero**: Anti-Army A

Range: 10-50

Maximum number of targets: 100 people

Caster's Personal Knightmare Frame. It is a five meter tall humanoid war machine that can deploy an energy field that protects the machine and the pilot negating the damage received from any attack, magecraft, or Noble Phantasm that is B rank or lower. Its main weapon is a chest-mounted Diffusion Structure Phase Transition Cannon. When activated, a prism-like object is fired from the Shinkiro's chest. The Shinkiro then fires a powerful beam into the prism, which refracts the blast into dozens of devastating pinpoint lasers. The beam can be fired without launching the prism for a concentrated attack. The shields must be deactivated for the weapon to be fired. The Shinkiro also has a pair of Hadron blasters mounted on the underside of its wrists which fire sphere-shaped blasts, rather than continuous beams.

**Damocles: The Fortress of the Demon Emperor**: Anti-Fortress A++

Range 1-99

Maximum number of targets: 1000 people

The symbol of the tyrant, Lelouch vi Britannia's rule. It is a large fortress that can even ascend into space and outside Gaia's Supreme Reality Marble if he so desired. The fortress deploys a shield around it, protecting it and all inside from all forms of damage completely. However, it must lower the shield in order to attack with its FLEIA bombs which can level a capital city with ease.

Caster refuses to use this NP due to the extremely high upkeep cost and the fact that it would reveal his reappearance to the world.

**Zero Requiem: A Life For a Small Wish that Created Hope: **Support EX

Range: -

Maximum number of targets: -

The embodiment of a small wish that granted the light of hope that pierced the darkness. It is Caster's greatest noble phantasm. It is an ability akin to a Marble Phantasm for it forces Fate and the entire World to create the optimal conclusion for Caster. Things such as absolute victory under impossible conditions with no casualties are within the scope of this ability.

However, after using this Noble Phantasm, Caster will die.

* * *

**Lelouch**: I love it.

**Harouki**: I realize he may slightly overpowered...but meh...it's still subject to change. Considering all the other heroes he's up against...maybe he needs these NPs to even stand a chance. His heavy hitters are also defend or attack fortresses that can barely move and can't attack and defend at once...is this balance? Do you think Lancer's Gae Dearg would pierce through Puella created weapons?

**Lelouch**: Considering the fact that they are magically created and not simply alternate forms like Mage Devices or Physical Armor like Dark Decade...yes.

**Hayate**: Aww...But I was hoping for a scene where you fight both Lancer and Saber at once using Kyouko-san's spear in one hand and Signum's device in the other.

**Harouki**: Dual Wielding Chain Lance and Chain Sword too op! Nerf all the things! In any case. I swear I will get at least 2 more chapters of StrikerS done this month and at least 1 more chapter of PMMM! Why am I not getting any inspiration for my birthday damn it!


	5. Code Magi Lyrical Rider Koihime Rider 1

**Code Magi Lyrical Rider: Koihime Rider**

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Heroes Were Girls!?**

* * *

"A shooting star?" A blonde girl asked as she looked up into the blue sky. "How ominous."

"Preparations for our departure are completed!" someone called out to her, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Is something the matter?" a second person asked her.

"I thought I saw a shooting star just now," the girl replied.

"A shooting star at this time of day?" the first person asked.

"That's not a good sign," the second one agreed. "Should we delay our departure?"

"It doesn't matter if it's a sign of good luck or bad luck, we will continue as planned," the girl replied as she turned around and started walking ahead.

"Understood."

"All hands, forward! Forward!"

"A thief has made off with a precious item! We are to take it back by any means necessary! All forces, depart!"

* * *

As the girl and her followers rode forward, we turn our attention to the shooting star the girl saw earlier. Far out in the open plains, what the girl saw was not a shooting star at all, bug a silver fog-like curtain opening out into the sky, before dropping out a red clad man with dark black hair onto the ground with a dull thud.

"Ouch...now where am I?" the man asked as he remained still on the ground with his eyes closed. His entire body was aching from the fall. He slowly moved several different part of his body to make sure that he wasn't injured. Satisfied, that he was merely sore and didn't have any broken bones, he began to piece together the events leading up to the incident.

"Let's see...my name is Lelouch vi Britannia...but I go by Lamperouge instead. I am also Kamen Rider Dark Decade, who has the power to cross between parallel worlds and have the powers of nine Magical Girls at my disposal. I have just successfully merged two separate parallel worlds together and was on my way back to my own world since our job was done. The other Decade, Kadoya Tsukasa, the former Dark Decade came to help us return to our World. We switched Decadrivers since he was the original Decade, leaving me with the Dark Decadriver. Then I crossed through the curtain to head back to Britannia...okay, looks like I remember everything..."

Nodding in satisfaction, the man known as Lelouch vi Britannia opens his eyes and took in the scenery around him.

"So how exactly did I end up out in the middle of nowhere?" he asked dumbly as he looked around, seeing nothing but empty plains and a mountain range off in the distance.

"Where the hell am I?" he wondered again, a bit softer this time. The scenery in front of him was nothing like the Britannia Mainland nor Japan. In fact, it looks a lot more like the former Chinese Federation. "C.C. and Suzaku are nowhere to be seen either. Did we get split up?"

Lelouch sighed as he dug out his pockets, looking for something that could help him make heads or tails of the current situation. All he found was his wallet, his now pointless apartment keys and finally, his communicator.

"Perfect. Now, let's check the universal gps..."

Turning the device on, he flipped through a few screens to the gps screen and sat down on a rock as he waited for the device to finish triangulating his position.

"Hmm...like I thought, it looks like this is the former Chinese Federation after all. It also looks like the other two devices are not within a hundred kilometers from my position either. For now I should probably get somewhere where I can scope out my surroundings. At least these things are solar powered so I don't have to worry about batteries. The sun is right above me so it should be around noon...the phone's universal clock also agrees. Good, at least that still works."

"Hey there Sonny. That's an interesting thing you have there."

Turning around, Lelouch spies three men staring back at him. One was extremely short, barely reaching his waist. The second was...huge, to say the least. He was taller than Lelouch and about five times as wide. The third and probably the leader stood about a head taller than Lelouch and had around the same build. All three of them were wearing the same brand of armor with yellow turbans wrapped around their heads.

"And just who are you three supposed to be?" he asked idly in Chinese. "Bandits?"

"Looks like you understand," the leader said with a satisfied nod. "That makes things easier."

"Yeah, so hand over all your stuff," the Chibi said.

"Hand it over," the fat one added as the three of them drew their blades and pointed them at Lelouch, who raised an eyebrow.

"Swords...armor...China...please don't tell me that idiot sent me to the wrong time..." Lelouch muttered as he clenched his fists.

"Didn't you hear us?" The leader asked. "Hand over all your valuables as well as those fancy clothes you are wearing! Or are we going to have to cut you up?"

Lelouch raised an eyebrow again and looked down at himself. That's right, he was was still wearing the long red trench coat and golden lens sunglasses that Hayate had him cosplaying.

"Well that explains the yellow tint I've been seeing," he thought as he pulled the glasses off his face and held a hand up to his left eye.

"Sorry," he said out loud. "But I have no intentions of being mugged today..."

But just before he could do anything else, a voice called out.

"HOLD IT!"

"Huh?"

"Who's there?"

"For three people to gang up and attack a single person...such acts are outrageous! I have no name to give you evil bastards!

"Oof!"

A blue haired woman dressed in a white kimono that opened up to expose quite a bit of her cleavage, appears and in an instant the fatso was knocked onto the ground.

"Wh-who the hell is this guy? GAH!" The short one could barely speak before there was another flash and he was sent flying as well.

The flash came from the woman's spear. She moved at such a speed that impressed Lelouch a great deal, especially since it looked like she wasn't using any magic. And because of that, though the woman was moving quickly, to Lelouch who has spent a month fighting alongside Magical Girls that could fly, he was able to keep up with her quite easily.

"What now?" the woman asked as she brandished her spear again at the leader. "It looks like your underlings are so weak that they were beaten by a single girl."

Realizing that he they were beaten the leader made the only logical choice.

"Tch, oi you guys! Let's get out of here!"

And that was to run away.

"Oh no you don't!" the woman shouted as she ran after them leaving Lelouch alone, still holding his hand over his eye like an idiot.

"Uhh...what just happened?" he asked as he lowered his hand, feeling just a bit disappointed.

"Are you alright?" came a voice.

A girl in a blue dress with golden hair that ran down to the ground with a lolipop in her mouth appeared behind him.

" Huh?"

He turned around and his eyes were immediately drawn towards the little...thing...resting atop her head. Another woman appeared shortly behind her, wearing a long one piece dress with black gloves and glasses. She seems to be fretting over Lelouch.

"Are you alright?" she asked, looking like she wanted to pat him over. "Are you injured?"

"No I am not," Lelouch assured her. "Though it was unnecessary, I appreciate the assistance.

"Is that so?" the woman replied, adjusting her glasses. "My apologies."

"There is nothing to apologize for. You still saved me from wasting my time with them."

"Is that so...?" the first girl asked as she removed the lollipop from her mouth with a dull smile which reminded him of the Knight of Six, Anya Alstreim. Or at least, how she was while his mother was in her body. "Then everything is fine..."

Lelouch took note of the girls outfits. They were indeed Chinese in style, similar to what the Tianzi and Li Xinge wore. As he looked them over, the other woman returned.

"What a waste of time," she was grumbling before turning to the other two. "Sorry, they got away from me."

"Welcome back..." the lollipop girl said. "Did they have horses stashed away somewhere...?"

" Yeah. Though we may run at the same speed on foot, there's no way I can catch up to a horse."

"Well...it's good enough that you drove them away..."

"But with this, it's safe to say that the amount of thieves in this area as increased..."

"Is that so?" Lelouch asked. He really shouldn't be getting involved but he may be stuck for a while so he might as well get a hold of the situation. "It's happening in other areas as well then?"

"Indeed...it's such a bother. Ah, allow us to introduce ourselves. I am Kakuka."

"Right...please call me Teiiku."

As the two introduced themselves, Lelouch's eye began to twitch.

"Kakuka and Teiiku...I see..." he said.

Those were the names of famous officers in Chinese history, specifically during the three kingdoms era. But that wasn't what surprised him, he already gathered that much when he saw the Yellow Turbans. No, the fact that those officers were women, was what surprised him...oh, and the fact is that for some reason, they are using the Japanese version of their names instead of the Chinese version! Kakuha, Guo Jia...and Teiiku, Cheng Yu. What kind of insane world has he fallen into?

"So this really is the Chinese Federation then...?" he tried, rubbing his eyes.

"The Chinese Federation?" Teiiku repeated before turning to the spear woman. "Sei-chan, were there any places around here that were called that?"

"No, I haven't heard of anything like that," Sei replied as she shook her head. "Hey you, those clothes of yours, are you from some kind of aristocratic clan from somewhere?"

"Aristocrat huh...I suppose so yes," Lelouch nodded. It was as good of a cover as any. "Due to circumstances beyond my control, I am currently traveling the land."

"Ah, an aristocrat that doesn't just sit around and preen themselves all day," Sei nodded with amused approval. "How refreshing. Well in any case, we'll leave the Shishi to you."

She turns to the other two and nods.

"The what?" Lelouch asked.

"Yeah, look, it's the Sou flag," Kakuka said as she pointed to the left.

Turning towards the direction that Kakuka pointed, Lelouch can see a large dust cloud heading his way. They were crossing the desert plain without trouble and at the forefront was a large flag bearing the symbol of "Sou." It looked like a scene from a historical drama.

"Wait...you're just going to leave me here?"

"It would be bad for us if we were seen within your presence. One of those officers might think we were attempting to bring you harm."

"Well it's been fun but it's a pain to be caught in the middle of a government's affairs," Sei said as she hoisted her spear over her shoulder.

"I...I see..."

"See ya later~" Teiiku said with a cheery wave.

And with that, the three of them quickly left, leaving Lelouch with the upcoming army.

"Tch...the Sou army huh?" Lelouch muttered. "One of the fiercest armies back in the Three Kingdoms era...I hope they're in the mood to talk."

Lelouch stood his ground as the soldiers formed a perimeter around him. Then, three women came to the front and looked down at him from their horses.

"Karin-sama!" the woman in red shouted. "This guy is..."

"He's different than what I expected," the girl with blonde drills that reminded him of Mami said. "I thought he'd be some middle aged man."

"What should we do?" the blue haired woman asked. "It looked like he was with those other three. Should we apprehend him?"

"Probably...but since he didn't run along with them, he might not have anything to do with them," Karin said.

"It doesn't even look like he's afraid of us..." the woman in red said.

"Looks more like he's just observing us."

"They're talking about me like I can't hear them..." Lelouch thought as he fought to keep himself from sighing. "In any case...I need some answers..."

"Excuse me," he said, catching their attention.

"What is it?" Karin replied.

"Can you tell me where the nearest city is? I seem to have gotten lost when some bandits ran off with my horse and have been walking for quite some time now..."

"Oh, and who exactly are you?"

"Just a traveler who is simply passing through these lands to try and find a place that I can call home, your ladyship," Lelouch replied, lowering his head. Though he wasn't a hundred percent sure, he knew this girl was someone important if the other two women were following her.

"And your name?"

"My name, your ladyship?" Lelouch repeated, quickly closing his eyes and running through the Gaia Memories in his head. "Why would you wish to know the name of a drifter like myself?"

"Hey you, Karin-sama asked you for your name!" the red garbed woman shouted.

"Hush, Shunran," Karin said before turning back to Lelouch. "I ask because I simply wish to know. Is that not a good enough reason, Traveler?"

"I suppose it will do," Lelouch answered. "My name is Shibai."

"Shibai?" the blue haired woman, Shuuran, asked. "Are you of the Shiba clan?"

"The clan is no more," Lelouch replied, still reading off the Gaia Memories behind his eyes. "We were wiped out in the recent riot within the city. The house has been burned to the ground and I believe I am the only survivor."

The Gaia Memories. A database within Lelouch's mind granted to him by the avatar of the World of C, the World existing in the middle of all Parallel Worlds, containing information about each and every single parallel world out there.

Using such a vast storage of knowledge, Lelouch was able to look through this world's history within seconds, allowing him to usurp the identity of a noble whose house and clan has recently been destroyed along with every single family member and servant.

This world's history was already different from his own due to the fact that the people who had helped him earlier, people who's names have been written down in history as renowned officers of Wei, were women, so it wouldn't matter what he did here, since it would not mess with the history of his world. Who would care if he took upon the identity of one of, if not the greatest of Wei's strategists?

"You're certainly a long way from the capital then," Karin noted. "In any case, to answer your previous question, this is the Chinryuu province and I am its Shishi, Sou Moutoku"

"There's that term again, Shishi," Lelouch thought. "From the looks of things, it seems to mean the provincial governor...and since they are riding with the Sou flag...and this girl is Sou Moutoku, Cao Cao...hah...what a messed up World."

"Shibai," Karin said suddenly, causing Lelouch to look up as his "name" was called. "If I recall correctly, the head of your clan was a teacher in Luoyang correct?"

"That is incorrect," Lelouch replied. "The clan head was a politician."

"I see. What about your clothes? It certainly doesn't look like it's from around here."

"You meet the strangest people when you travel. They said that they were from the east offered to help me get back on my feet and I took it. I believe they told me they were from an island country off the east coast."

"Karin-sama," Shuuran said. "If you wish to listen to Shibai's story then it would be best if we relocate to the nearby town while sending a scouting force out to track the bandits."

"I suppose you're right," Karin nodded. "Would you mind accompanying us?"

"It would be my honor."

* * *

A few hours later, after borrowing a horse from a soldier, Lelouch was sitting in a small inn drinking tea and being interrogated by Karin and her retainers. Somehow the money he had in his wallet changed into the currency of the current time and region, perhaps a perk of traveling through the worlds, it would be hard for Riders to survive in parallel worlds without a some kind of balance after all. Convenient for him.

"His story matches everything we know of the Shiba clan, Karin-sama," Shuuran said.

"I still think he's just a fake," Shunran said, glaring at Lelouch as he calmly sipped his tea.

"What is there to gain by impersonating someone from a dead clan?" Lelouch asked, hiding his smile behind his cup. "The clan's resources have no doubt been either destroyed or stolen by now, other clans would have no benefits in holding onto their ties to them to exploit...quite frankly, if you see a benefit to taking someone else's name, allow me to hear it."

"How about escaping from your crimes?"

"And what crimes may they be? Have you ever heard of any criminal matching my description through any guard posts or soldiers in any town or province?"

"No, and that is what bothers me," Karin replied. "It's like you just appeared out of thin air."

"Our clan has many secrets like any other powerful family. I am merely one of them. I have been taught many different things from a young age. From how to prepare a meal, to use a sword, and to even command armies in battle."

"A man of many talents? How rare in this day and age."

"I'll bet..." Lelouch added to himself as he took another sip. "By the way...I know your name and you know my name, would it be too presumptuous to ask the name of your retainers as well, or should I be content with simply referring to them in the second person?"

Though he had a good idea who the two of them were. Really, if even the famous Sousou was a woman, then these two were probably...

"Oh that's right...these two are Kakouton and Kakouen."

Perfect guess. Kakouton and Kakouen, Xihaou Dun and Xihaou Yuan, Sousou's cousins and loyal retainers. Though history had said they were cousins, it seems that they are sisters here.

"I see," Lelouch replied, maintaining a neutral tone in spite of his mind screaming at all the inconsistencies around him. "It's is an honor to meet you both."

"You as well," Shuuran said while Shunran simply huffed at him.

"So what do you plan to do, Shibai?" Karin asked.

"I plan to continue my travels of course," Lelouch replied.

"Until what? You said you are searching for a place to live correct?"

"Are you offering, milady?"

"Indeed, provided you can pull your own weight of course."

"If that is the case," Lelouch said as he set his cup down and stood up, before lowering his head and raising his hands together in a formal bow. "How may I serve you?"

"Karin-sama! Are you seriously going to let a suspicious guy like this work for you?" Shunran asked loudly, pointing at Lelouch.

"Of course it won't be without a test of some sort," Karin replied. "Though I have no need for a teacher or a cook at the moment, a tactician would be invaluable would you not agree?"

"And you seek to test me?" Lelouch asked, straightening himself up.

"Indeed I do. Currently we are seeking a large group of bandits that have stolen something from me. During my search for them, I will have you take command of the first battle we come across to test whether or not you are worthy of such a title."

"That is a mighty risk you are taking there. What if I am a spy for said bandits with the intention of leading you to your doom?"

"A group of bandits would never speak so eloquently like you, nor are they brave enough to send one man into the middle of an enemy army to lead such a deception," Karin explained before smiling at him. "Of course, should you fail, I do intend on taking your head."

"Hahaha, such venomous words should not be said from such a beautiful face," Lelouch laughed. "But nevertheless, I accept such a challenge. And dare I boldly proclaim, I shall lead you and your armies to victory and conquer this country as the Black Demon as the stars have foretold."

"A demon?" Shuuran asked.

"Indeed," Lelouch nodded. "I am neither a dragon nor a phoenix, such titles belong to others who see battle as something filled with honor and glory. My tactics and I shall show what war and battle really is and be ruthless and bloody against my enemies. If you do keep me on regardless, you may become an able governor in peacetime while an antihero in wartime."

"Is that right?" Karin asked. "You say the stars have foretold my victory? My my, you are an interesting person, Shibai. Very well Demon. I, Sou Moutoku, hearby bind you into my service.

"That contract, I will accept it," Lelouch replied seriously before his face broke out into a small smile. "My, that was certainly more serious than I expected this conversation to turn out."

"Indeed," Karin replied with a similar smile. "Come to think of it, I have yet to hear your mana. You already heard all of ours, so why not give yours as well."

"My mana, huh?" Lelouch asked as he rubbed his chin. Certainly Shibai had his own mana, but there's no one left alive that knows it so... "Very well. My mana is Lelouch."

"Then, Lelouch, it's fine if you were to call me, 'Karin.'"

"Huh? Are you sure?"

"I really don't care either way. You two as well, understand?"

"But Karin-sama! How can something as delicate as a flower like your mana be entrusted to someone like this?"

"So what are you going to do? Are you going to call Lelouch, 'you bastard' every time you talk to him?" Karin asked with a sly smile.

"'You,' 'dog,' or 'that guy,' is good enough isn't it?"

"Hahaha...as amusing as that may be...please don't," Lelouch said with a wry smile.

"What about you, Shuuran?" Karin asked.

"Yes, I see no problem with it," Shuuran replied.

"Shuuran! Not you too!"

"I'm simply following Karin-sama's orders. What about you, Aneja?"

"Well...urgh...fine..."

"In that case, I look forward to working with all of you," Lelouch replied.

* * *

While Karin's scouts continued searching for the bandits, the main army decided to pick up and return back to their castle.

There, Lelouch was given a fairly large room when the girls took him back to Karin's castle. It was separated from the other living quarters and was equipped with a fully stocked kitchen at his personal request.

There was a large canopy bed in the corner of the room and a small table with two chairs in front of it. On the wall across from the bed was a wooden desk where he was to do any work should Karin assign him something. On the other side of the room was the kitchen which contained a stove, several counters, and a large pot. The ceiling was pretty high and there were plenty of shelves for him to store supplies and ingredients and a lot of cooking utensils from the staff.

Honestly, he had no idea why he was really doing this, but it was a good chance to see just how far Madoka's wish can take him.

"I wonder if I should be doing something," he said as he sat at his desk, his coat draped over his chair, leaving him only wearing some pants and a tank top as he looked over the objects in his room. "Perhaps I should cook something?"

About half an hour later, the room was filled with a fairly pleasant smell as Lelouch poured an orange sauce over some chicken before turning to the pot.

"Ugh..." came a voice from the door causing him to look away for a moment where he saw Karin at the door. "What are you doing?" she asked, covering her mouth and nose with a hand.

"Ah Karin," he said. "Sorry about the smell. I didn't hear you knock."

"Knock?" she asked, her voice slightly muffled. "What's that?"

"Really?" he deadpanned as he set walked over to the counter and rapped his knuckles on it in demonstration. "In my family, it is considered good manners to knock on the door before entering someone else's room. This lets them know that someone is outside and wishes to talk to them. After all, someone might be doing something unpleasant inside."

"Manners, huh...?" she asked. "Doing something unpleasant, huh...?"

"I'll open the window," he said before doing so, allowing her to breathe in.

"So what is this?"

"I'm making use of my kitchen," Lelouch replied. "Do you find the smell unpleasant?"

"It's an unusual smell," she admitted before peering a bit closer.

"Would you like a taste?"

"Aren't cooks supposed to be angry when someone sneaks food that's still being prepared?"

"Do they get angry at you?"

"Are you suggesting that I sneak food from the kitchens?" Karin asked, raising her eyebrow.

"You're the one that brought it up," Lelouch countered as he grabbed a bowl and filled it up with a ladle. "Besides, it's finished anyway."

"In that case, thank you," she replied as she took the bowl and a spoon in her hands and took a sip. "Hmm, the taste is peculiar but it's not bad at all."

"Is it?" Lelouch asked. "It was a recipe I learned from the foreigners and I enjoy the taste and make it whenever I can."

"Indeed, I think I can grow to like it," she agreed, finishing the bowl and handing the utensils back to him. "I'll leave you to your work then."

"Before you go, why did you come in here anyway?"

"I wanted to make sure you were doing something to pull your own weight around here," she said. "Though I had been expecting you to be pouring over some texts for stratagems, I understand the need to keep your other skills sharp. Perhaps I should just forget about having you be a tactician and have you be the head cook instead."

"I thank you for your kind words, but I prefer studies and battle over a stove."

"Suit yourself. But when you're finished with this, why not go around and see what else needs to be done around here."

With that said, she left Lelouch so that he could return to his cooking.

"I wonder if she was bored?" he thought idly.

"Alright..." Lelouch nodded as he looked over his work. "Everything's ready and I prepared enough food to last me a few days at least. Now to store it away."

He took out three cards and prepared took a step back from the pot.

"Henshin!"

"_Kamen Ride! Dark Decade!_"

As the armor of the Dark Rider appeared on him he inserted the second card in.

"_Magical Ride! Homura!_"

The colors changed to purple and white with black stripes as he put the final card in.

"_Attack Ride! Dimension Pocket!_"

The gears on the shield began to spin as he touched the pot, causing it to disappear. He then grabbed the meat dishes he was preparing and put them into the shield as well.

"Ah Homura," he said as he removed the armor. "Your powers are so convenient. It's a carrying case that keeps everything it holds fresh and ready. The perfect picnic basket."

Shaking his head with a smile he then turned toward the door.

"Now...what am I going to do now?"

He shrugged his shoulders as he went to grab his coat.

"Might as well go for a walk."

* * *

Lelouch admired the gardens and scenery as he walked around the castle grounds, eating one of the sandwiches he had made.

"Hmm, nothing like a breath of fresh air with good food," he said with a smile. "This place is so peaceful too. A shame the Yellow Turban rebellion is right around the corner. But, it's nice to enjoy this little bit of tranquility while it is still here."

"HAAAAAA!" came a loud shout from behind him.

"And...there it goes," he said with a sigh.

"TEEEEEIIIII!" came another shout followed by a fierce swinging motion, probably from a large sword.

"Is that you Shunraaaaaaaahhhhhh!"

Lelouch let out a yell as he quickly dived out of the way as a large sword just missed him and smashed into the tree he was walking next to.

"Oh, it was just you," Shunran said.

"Don't give me that!" he shouted, picking himself up from the ground. "You could have killed me with that!"

"Hmm? What are you talking about? That blow was around one or two centimeters too far form your head to hit you."

"You...you don't care at all do you?"

"What are you talking about?" she asked with a smile. "It would absolutely break my heart if you were sent to the other world right now."

"I'm sure it would," he replied drolly as he made sure his sandwich was still in his hand.

"So what were you doing?" she asked as she placed her hand on her blade. "Taking a stroll...at...this...time!"

She tried to pull her blade out of the tree only to find it stuck.

"Teei!"

She gave the tree a large kick, causing it to fall over while freeing her blade at the same time. She gave herself a mental pat on the back before turning back to him.

"Whew, so what are you doing taking a stroll at this time?" she asked as if she didn't just destroy a large part of the garden.

"I am just looking for a spot to relax as I eat," he said showing her the sandwich in his hand. "But really...did you have to go and destroy the tree?"

"I had to get my blade out somehow," she said.

"You shouldn't have been swinging it so close to it in the first place...were you training?"

"Of course," she said with a huff. "I don't know anything about you, but as a warrior, I have to train my body to stay strong."

"Too bad you can't say the same for your mind," he mumbled.

"What was that?"

"I said I hope that you also remember to practice military tactics. You're as much of a commander as you are a warrior, remember?"

"Of course I do," she replied.

"Then I won't keep you from your practice any more. See ya."

"Yeah, see ya, and stop sneaking around!" She shouted after him.

"How am I sneaking?" he called back.

Sighing he continued walking until he came up to a walkway where he sat down on the railing, keeping one foot on the ground while the other was balanced on top of the railing as he leaned back against the pillar.

"Hah, how relaxing," he sighed as he finished off his sandwich.

"What's wrong," came a voice behind him. "What are you doing here?"

Turning around, he saw Shuuran standing there looking at him with some papers in her arms.

"Yo, Shuuran," he greeted her. "Working hard?"

"Of course," she nodded. "Aneja seems to have skipped out on her paper work."

"Is that so? I just saw her in the garden," Lelouch said, jerking his head in the direction he just came from. "It seems that she's training herself and destroying the garden in the process."

"Again?" Shuuran sighed.

"She sure is troublesome isn't she?"

"Well, it's always been like this."

"Is that right?" Lelouch asked as he looked down at the papers. "Would you like some help with all of that?"

"You?" she asked, clearly surprised by his offer.

"Yeah. Karin checked in on me to make sure I was doing some kind of work. I have to pull my weight off the battlefield too."

"I see. That's a good mindset to get into."

She handed him the first piece of paper on the pile and he looked it over. The wording was extremely ancient but he nodded his head.

"I see...I think I can handle this."

"Umu, thanks for your help then," she said with a happy nod. "Can you take half?"

"I think I can do a bit more than that," Lelouch said, taking the stack from her.

"No, you don't have to," she said, trying to take half the stack back but Lelouch stepped back from her.

"And neither do you," He countered. "This was supposed to be Shunran's job. You have your own work to do don't you? And seeing as I haven't been officially given any work I'll see if I can't finish it by morning."

"I see...then please do. And thanks again."

"Anytime."

* * *

"And that brings today's war council to a close," Shuuran announced.

"Dismissed!" Shunran called out as the government officers filed out of the room, leaving only Karin and the sisters.

"Shuuran?" Karin asked.

"Yes?" she replied.

"Has Lelouch been looking for a way to make himself useful?"

"Yes. It seems he has."

"Really, what has he been doing?"

"Well..."

"What are you talking about?" Shunran asked.

"It's nothing to do with you, Aneja," Shuuran answered.

"What's that?"

"Quiet down Shunran," Karin said. "I'm talking to Shuuran right now."

"Hau...even Karin-sama..."

"So what has he been busying himself with? You know don't you, Shuuran?"

"Well, he offered to help me with some of the paperwork, mostly the ones dealing with finances and budget costs..."

"Wait..." Karin said. "Weren't those supposed to be Shunran's duties?"

"Ah..." the girl in question gasped as Karin turned to her.

"Shunran...?"

"W-well I was going to do them later, but when I got back to my room they were gone."

"Is that so?" Karin asked as she stood up. "Then I'm going to go see how he's doing."

She got up and headed towards the extended building where Lelouch's quarters were. When she got there she placed her hand on the door but stopped, remembering what he said about knocking.

"Common courtesy, huh?" she said as she knocked on the door but there was no reply. "Lelouch, are you in?" she asked as she opened the door.

He was there, but he was fast asleep on his bed. On his desk was a large stack of papers next to a black feather pen and inkwell.

"Did he take one look at it then go to sleep?" she wondered as she walked over and grabbed the first paper off the pile. "Hmm? This is..."

Sitting herself down at his desk, she looked through the papers. They were all completed, balancing out all their finances making sure each section got the amount they needed along with suggestions and instructions on how to utilized every bit they received efficiently.

"He got it all done?" she whispered as she turned to look at the sleeping Rider. "From what Shuuran said, he only started a few hours ago...humph, what an efficient guy."

She then got up and headed towards the door.

"If he's this efficient in peace, I wonder how he'll do in war."

With that she blew out the candle for him and left the room quietly.

As her footsteps died away, Lelouch slept soundly at his desk.

* * *

Chapter's End Corner!

**Harouki**: And here we have a rewrite of Koihime Rider!

**Lelouch**: Why do you do this to me?

**Karin**: Oh, this is an interesting place.

**Lelouch**: Geh! Why are you here!?

**Karin: **Oh? Are you saying that Sou Moutoku can't go where she pleases?

**Lelouch**: This place exists in-between reality and fiction! The place in-between worlds! So I ask again! Why are you here!?

**Harouki: **We needed a Koihime representative and so she's hear. I wanted Nagi but she's not here yet.

**Karin:** Oh? Are you saying I'm not good enough?

**Harouki:** Erk!

**Lelouch**: Where did she pull that scythe from?

**Harouki**: A-anyway! As before, do not expect much from this as I'm basing the story off the Gi (Wei) storyline from Shin Koihime Musou. This time, instead of being known as a sorcerer, Lelouch would take the place of Shibai, or Sima Yi. Basically, I would have to translate the currently Japanese only Eroge while writing my own story. That's a LOT of work. Of course...ANY AND ALL NAUGHTY SCENES WILL BE IGNORED. I absolutely refuse to write lemons, even if the original material is an adult work. Hopefully Shin Koihime will be translated by Mangagamer soon. Even if it's just them releasing each route as its own game. I just want my Gi Route!

**Lelouch**: Long story short, don't expect much to come out of this.

**Karin**: Such a shame, really.


	6. Code Magi Lyrical Rider Zer0 2

**Chapter 2: Magical Ride Reborn**

* * *

Louise groaned as she rubbed her chest and sat up.

It felt like something had been pressing down on her and trying to break out of her chest at the same time in her sleep.

On one hand, she felt tired and hungry. On the other hand, she felt lighter than she did the day before but maybe that was because she didn't eat dinner.

"Good morning, Mistress."

"Bwgah!"

Louise let out a decidedly unladylike cry as she scrambled backwards on her bed and pressed her back against the wall.

In front of her on her desk, reading a very large text book with one leg over the other, was the fire spirit she summoned yesterday. He was acting as if he didn't just attempt to pull...something...whatever that thing was...out of her chest.

"You...I...what happened?" she settled.

"You passed out last night," the spirit replied without looking up. "Diagnostic said that it was an accumulation of stress, hunger, and the pain of your Linker Core being extracted to give me a pseudo-physical form."

"There's that word again..." Louise began. "Linker Core. What does that mean?"

"A Linker Core is an organ that allows a living creature to use magic. It holds your mana, similar what your society calls Willpower...perhaps. By extracting your Core, I am able to acquire the knowledge of any and all spells that the owner knows and use them for myself. The spells are recorded into my new Tome...which still needs a name, Mistress."

"Name...do you have one?"

"I am Material-O," the spirit said as he stood up and faced her before bending over in a knightly bow. "O for Origin. Omega the End. However, my former comrades called me, Zero...does my name disturb you for some reason?"

Louise blinked as she quickly moved her hand to cover the expression she had on her face.

Was it some cruel irony that she would summon a magical book spirit with the name Zero?

"I refuse to call you Zero," she said slowly.

"That is fine. Material-O, Origin, and Omega will do just find if Zero seems distasteful to you."

"Omega then," Louise said. "Wait...what is the point of taking a Mage's...Linker Core, was it?"

"For the power of course," Omega said as he raised a hand up to her. "Magic is various, unique, ever changing, ever evolving, that it needs to be recorded so that it would never be lost. Have you ever once saw another's skill in magic, that you wished that you could use that spell yourself? That is the purpose of doing this. To give my Masters the power of other Mages, without the years of training that it would require to achieve that power, to call upon it in an instant."

"That..." Louise began before falling silent.

That power was tempting. So very very tempting.

But it was also a shortcut.

She had spent so long, so much time and effort into studying and struggling to get her magic to work...and here this spirit was, saying that he could simply just steal the magic of others for her.

It...felt wrong.

Not to mention...

"But doesn't that hurt?" Louise asked.

"Of course it does," Omega replied. "You had it done to yourself after all. Even then, you successfully survived it and managed to keep your own core. I only absorbed the bare minimum of your magical knowledge, the theory, and a few of your spells. Explosion, Wind Burst, Fireball...seems fairly basic. There are more...complete ways to drain a core's knowledge, but those tend to be lethal."

"No!" Louise shouted as she made an "X" with her arms. "I am your Mistress and you are not to drain anyone Linker Core or whatever without my permission!"

"As you wish," Omega said with another bow.

"It is!" Louise nodded finally. As much as she hated the other students for picking on her, and calling her "The Zero," she didn't want to cause them pain or kill them. Humiliate them and make them see just how much better than them she was, yes, but not kill them. "Wait...you said you copied my spells?"

"Indeed," Omega said as he held up something which looked very much like her wand. "_Fireball_."

He pointed the wand out the open window and a ball of fire shot out from the tip of the wand.

"_Wind Burst._"

Immediately following it, a sharp blade of green wind flew out after the fireball, splitting it in two before dissipating.

"Two basic first years spells that usually takes a week of theory to learn," Omega said as he placed the wand back down on the table. "Casted by me who had but only a single night. You can do it too Mistress, now that the obstruction is gone...Mistress?"

Louise couldn't help but stare at Omega.

He just casted magic as easily as breathing. Two different elements so quickly.

What's more, he said those were _her_ spells? Spells that she knew?

She quickly leaped off her bed and grabbed her wand and pointed out the window as well.

"_Fireball!_" she shouted.

And there it was.

No loud explosion that only kicked up smoke and destroyed furniture.

Just a normal magical fire ball that shot out the window like a bullet at amazing speed...almost as fast as Omega's had been, and he was someone who could manipulate fire into the shape of large blades and claw-like wings.

"I...I can do magic..." Louise blubbered.

"Well of course you can..." Omega said with an eyebrow quirked up. "You did call me here after all. The problem was that you had two Linker Cores merged together with one attempting to claim dominance over the other. In my attempt to absorb some of your magic, I split them apart so they are now two separate cores. I must say that it's a rare thing to have...not completely unheard of, but extremely rare, allowing you to make use of an obscene amount of mana. Though...one of the cores was somehow dominating the other. Two conflicting cores with conflicting elemental affinities."

"You...you think that's why every spell I tried to cast ended up with an explosion?" Louise asked.

"I believe so," Omega nodded. "Picture it like this."

With a wave of his hand, Omega suddenly conjured two orbs of light. One white, and one red.

"This red light will be the larger main Linker Core," he said as it grew a little in size. "While the white one will be the second smaller core. You are constantly trying to use the mana from your red core," the red orb suddenly began to change in shape, making it look like a needle was extending from the top of it toward the ceiling. "However, your white core is overriding it," the white orb suddenly stretched forward, wrapping itself around the pointy end and stretched up to the ceiling instead. "The white core seems to have a single affinity to it...your...explosions I suppose. So no matter what, you would only be able to cast explosions. But now..."

The orbs vanished and Omega placed his hand in front of Louise's chest, allowing Louise to see both of her Linker Cores perfectly...and without pain.

"Now that they are both separate, you can call upon your regular Linker Core whenever you wish. As well as the other core...well...let's call that the 'Explosion Core' for now as that was the only spell I was able to pull from it. You never know when a nonlethal explosion can come in handy."

But Louise wasn't really paying attention to him anymore.

She was too busy looking at her wand in her hand.

She did it.

She casted her first real magic.

She really was a Mage.

She had magic! No one would ever call her a Zero again! She even had a powerful spirit at her beck and call! One that seems to be genuinely interested in helping her if one looked past the whole "I am going to rip out the thing that allows you to be a Mage and use it for myself bit."

Louise felt her lips stretch out to a grin.

Now all she needed to do was figure out what her element was.

A fireball and a Wind Burst were two basic spells that any dot Mage can cast with ease.

But then those were the only spells that Omega had pulled from her despite the vast amount of theoretical knowledge that she possessed and her attempts at casting other spells.

Fireball was a given...that was the easiest and simplest offensive spell she knew.

Wind Burst though...why did he pull that out?

Was it because she was the Daughter of the Heavy Wind and all those times she tried to pretend that a Wind Burst spell was her mother's Heavy Wind spell when she was a child...even if what she ended up casting was just another explosion.

Maybe she was able equally proficient in Wind and Fire?

"_Louise the Firestorm...that had a really nice ring to it,_" she thought to herself as she let out a small chuckle as she fiddled with her wand. "_But why was it getting so hard to breathe all of a sudden?"_

The reason was obvious.

Omega was pinching her nose together.

"Bwah!" she gasped as she pulled her face away from Omega's hand. "What are you doing, you stupid spirit? I can't breathe!"

"You had been in the middle of a delusion and I was required by law to bring you back down to earth," Omega said in monotone.

"Law? What ridiculous law is this?"

"My law."

Louise sighed and planted her face into her hand as Omega smiled.

She summoned a spirit with a sense of _humor_. Perfect...

"But as I now have your attention...I require one more thing form you, Mistress."

"What is it?" she asked.

"I require armor," he said pointing to himself.

For the first time since she woke up, Louise finally got a good look at her familiar.

He was barely wearing anything at all, and what he was currently wearing was barely enough to protect his modesty.

"You're a spirit, aren't you?" Louise asked as she determinedly kept her gaze from wandering by looking him straight in the eye. "Can't you just...go back into your book or something?"

"I suppose so," Omega nodded. "But there is a limit to what I can do while inside. I recall you wished for protection along with finding out the problem with your magic?"

"I don't exactly have the funds to outfit you right now, Omega," Louise admitted.

"It's nothing so cumbersome to require currency, Mistress. All you need to do is imagine clothing suitable for someone like myself and I will construct it from your imagination. Normally protection of the master is something that should be done by a Knight Program, but as I am severely lacking in spare programs now, I will have to fulfill that role myself."

Again, he was using the term "Program." Louise wondered what it meant but it was probably something that only spirits could really comprehend. Judging from the context though, it might be some sort of magic that was designed to specifically protect the Master, but Omega seems to have lost the ability to call upon that magic. A shame.

"Very well," Louise nodded. "I will come up with an armor suitable for you Omega. But for now, I need to prepare for the day ahead."

"By your leave then," Omega said with one last bow as he vanished, allowing his tome to fall back down onto the table without another sound.

Louise stared at the book for a moment before turning toward her dresser to pull out a clean uniform, tossing the one she was currently wearing into the laundry basket. It was getting a bit full so she might have to call a maid to take care of it soon.

Once she finished dressing, she went over and picked the book back up.

"_**Ready for the day ahead?**_" came Omega's voice.

"How are you doing that?" Louise asked as she rubbed her head. "It feels like your voice is coming from inside my head."

"_**Really...? Even telepathy is beyond you? The theory and spell is extremely simple.**_"

The book suddenly opened up in her hands, revealing said spell.

"A spell that allows someone to speak to another person without using their mouth?" Louise asked, extremely intrigued as she read the first parts of the spell.

"_**You should be able to learn it without too much trouble, Mistress. Even a nine year old was able to learn in within a few days.**_"

"Is that right?" Louise mumbled idly, her thoughts occupied with reading.

"_**Mistress...perhaps it would be best to have a meal before you get too preoccupied in reading. You did not eat dinner last night and it is not healthy to skip meals.**_"

The book then slammed shut and refused to open despite her attempts at doing so, preventing Louise from reading about the spell any further.

She made an annoyed face but relented. If her familiar was was going to give her an extremely unique magic spell at the cost of her just going down to eat breakfast, what's the hurry?

So Louise lifted the book up and placed it under her arms along with Tabitha's novel as she left her room...only to come face to face with Kirche with her familiar, a large tiger sized red lizard with a flame at the tip of its tail and sparks flowing out of its mouth.

"Good morning, Louise," Kirche said pleasantly.

"Zerbst..." Louise replied. "What do you want?"

"Just curious if you've managed to bring that flame spirit of yours under control," Kirche replied.

"Why do you care?"

"Because of the flames of course. Such mastery and control. Think of what someone could do with that. The fact that he was such a delicious looking spirit helps too."

"Of course it does..."

"_**Delicious? Me?**_" Omega asked, confused. "_**Is cannibalism practiced in this society?**_"

"No it isn't," Louise replied as she rubbed her eyes.

"No what isn't?" Kirche asked, as she wasn't able to hear Omega.

"Never you mind," Louise snapped. "Do you know where Tabitha is? I need to give her book back to her now that I'm not using it anymore."

"Hmm? Wasn't your spirit trapped inside there?"

"Not anymore. He's in this book now."

Louise handed Kirche the novel to hold while showing her Omega's current tome.

"Hmm...what an interesting book," Kirche hummed, admiring the cover. "Where did you find it?"

"I didn't. The spirit turned an old Germanian cookbook into it."

"Sounds like your spirit knows quality work when he sees it. Don't worry about the book, I'll make sure Tabitha gets it back. See ya."

And with that, Kirche left without another word with her familiar trailing behind her.

"_**An...interesting associate you have there, Mistress...**_" Omega noted.

"She is nothing of the sort," Louise said as she headed down towards the dining hall. "Her name is Kirche Augusta Frederica Von Anhalt Zerbst."

"_**I see...**_"

"Though she does bring up a point..." Louise began. "Last night...when you were doing that thing...with my Linker Cores. I heard a voice speaking in Germanian. But when I hear you talk you speak in Tristanian. Why is that?"

"_**Hmm? Are those your languages? The spells my tome casts are in Belkan. I assume its similar to the language you call Germanian. And I have never 'spoken' to you until after I extracted information from your core. Telepathy bypasses petty things such as the language barrier, sending your thoughts directly to the recipient where their mind interprets it as something...familiar.**_"

"But you were still able to understand me before...right after the summoning."

"_**Do not compare my mind to that of a human. My mind processes information much faster than a human's does. As you spoke to me, even in my deranged state, I was able to interpret it by running the words against several hundred other languages that I came across in my lifetime and found a language similar to yours. I am literally a living record.**_"

Louise didn't really get it, but then how can a human really understand what a spirit is thinking.

So far it seems that Omega was at least somewhat benevolent and not exactly out to kill all humans as some spirits might.

On the other hand, some paranoid part of her kept saying that Omega was just biding his time until he was strong enough to break free. But as long as she kept him from draining other people's Linker Cores, then his power should remain controllable...right?

* * *

Breakfast had been a relatively quiet affair, aside from the usual whisperings about her anyway.

Omega seemed to have noticed that people were whispering about her, if the fact that she felt a strange heat coming from the pages as she read about the Telepathy Spell but remained silent about it.

After breakfast, Louise went to her first class of the day in the Tower of Earth, where all the classes that dealt with the Earth element were held.

Louise had just managed to make it to her seat when the teacher arrived.

She was a middle-aged woman dressed in a voluminous purple robe and wearing a hat. She had a plump, round face with a friendly expression on it as she gazed around the room, no doubt taking in all the new familiars.

"Well, everyone, it seems that the Springtime Familiar Summoning was a great success. I, Chevreuse, always enjoy seeing the new familiars that are summoned each spring," the woman said.

Louise had a small grimace on her face. After all, her powerful flame spirit had locked himself away in a book, and she was reluctant to order him to come out, for fear of him interpreting it as a release to his bonds and leave her service.

"Hmm? Did you not bring your familiar with you, Miss Valliere?" Chevreuse remarked.

"He is...resting at the moment," Louise decided, her eyes falling down on Omega's tome.

"Did you perhaps summon a nocturnal familiar?"

"No, I do not believe so. I simply do not wish to disturb his rest."

"_**How thoughtful of you, Mistress,**_" came Omega's reply as Chevreuse seemed to accept the explanation and began her lecture.

"Now then, let's begin the lesson."

Chevreuse coughed heavily and waved her wand. A few pebbles materialized on her desktop.

"My Runic name is 'Red Clay.' Chevreuse the Red Clay. This year, I will be teaching you all the magic of the Earth element. Do you know the four great elements of magic, Mister Malicorne?"

"Y-Yes, Professor Chevreuse," a rather plump blond boy said. "They are Fire, Water, Earth and Wind."

As Chevreuse nodded her head to show that the boy was correct, Omega's tome flipped open and words in Germanian or Belkan or whatever the language Omega used was, began form on its pages, as if the spirit was taking notes for himself.

"And combined with the now-lost element of 'Void,' there are five elements in total - as everyone should already know. Of the five elements, I believe Earth holds an extremely important position. This isn't just because my affinity is Earth, nor is it simply a personal preference."

Now instead of just words, some sort of diagram was appearing on the page.

Louise wasn't entirely familiar with Germanian, she could speak it well enough but she didn't know enough to actually read and write it, but she could make out the words "Fire," "Ruby," "Magic," and "Ring" on the top of the picture as a diagram began sketching itself on the page.

"The magic of Earth is very important magic that governs the creation of all matter," Chevreuse continued, not noticing Louise was no longer paying attention to her, not that she needed to as the professor was simply, and albeit shamelessly, trying to convince the non-earth aligned students that her element was the best. "If it wasn't for Earth magic, we wouldn't be able to produce or process necessary metals. Raising buildings from large boulders and harvesting crops would also involve much more work. In this manner, the magic of the Earth element is intimately related to everyone's life."

"Now, everyone, please recall that the basic magic of the Earth element is 'transmutation'. While there will be people here who have already learned this in their first year, basics build foundations, so let's review it once more."

Chevreuse turned her attention to the pebbles and twirled her wand over them.

She then whispered a spell, and they began to glow brightly.

When the light dimmed away, the pebbles had been changed into sparkling lumps of metal.

"Is that g-g-gold, Professor Chevreuse!?" Kirche asked as she leaned forward over her desk to get a closer look at the new metals.

"No, it isn't. It's plain brass. Only Square-class Mages are able to transmute to gold. I'm just..." Chevreuse gave a self-important cough. "A Triangle Mage..."

"As you all should be aware of, the terms dot, line, triangle and square refer tothe number of elements that a Mage can add to a spell, which also determines the level of a Mage. For example, you can use an Earth spell on its own. But if you add Fire magic to it, the overall power of the spell increases greatly. Those who can stack two elements like Fire and Earth together are called Line Mages. As I can combine three elements, Earth-Earth-Fire, that makes me a Triangle Mage."

"_**Is all this exposition really necessary?**_" Omega's voice rang in her head. "_**Don't you already know all of this?**_"

"I suppose this is just a review..." Louise mumbled.

"Miss Valliere?" Chevreuse called out.

"Y-yes?" Louise asked, jumping slightly.

"Can you come up here and demonstrate for the spell for me?"

"Eh? Me?"

"Yes. Try changing these pebbles here into a metal of your choice."

Louise suddenly felt a lump grow in her throat at the request.

True, it seems like she was able to cast spells now, but so far she had only tried a fireball. And despite Omega's insistence otherwise, she had this horrible feeling that it was just a fluke and all her other spells will still result in an explosion.

"Umm...I think it would be better if you didn't let her..." Kirche suddenly said.

"And why is that?" Chevreuse asked.

"It's dangerous," Kirche answered plainly as the majority of the class nodded in agreement.

"Dangerous? How so?"

"This is your first time teaching Louise, right?"

"It is, but I hear she's a hard worker. Now, Miss Valliere. Don't you worry, just try it. You won't be able to do anything if you dread making mistakes."

"Don't, Louise!" Kirche cried, her face pale.

She wasn't going to let this stand.

"I'll do it!" Louise said as she stood up.

Today was it. Today was the last day that anyone would ever call her a Zero again.

Omega had fixed her magic. She can do magic! Something as elementary as a transmutation spell was not going to hinder her! She will do it! She will become a great Mage!

She noticed that some of the students were trying to be discreet in moving back a few rows and that Tabitha had left the room entirely. The joke will be on them once she showed them her new prowess!

"Now remember, Miss Valliere, you have to visualize vividly the metal that you wish to transmute them into," Chevreuse said and Louise nodded her head in reply.

"_But what to change it into?_" Louise wondered as she looked around the room. She then spotted Guiche Garmont trying to hide himself under his desk. "_Eh...good enough._"

She said the incantation and with a flourish of her wand, she thrust it at the rocks.

A faint light began glowing, and as Louise prayed and begged the Founder with all her might, the light vanished without an explosion and the rocks began changing into small bronze chunks.

"Very good Miss Valliere," Chevreuse nodded as the entire class, just stared at the new bronze chunks. "See? Miss Valliere seems perfectly capable of casting magic properly. You may return to your seat."

"T-thank you Professor..." Louise muttered as she sat back down looking dumbstruck. She then turned toward Omega's tomb. "You didn't interfere did you?"

"_**Hmm? Interfere with what?**_" Omega asked as the page containing the ring diagram with what seemed to be a hand on it. "_**I've been working on this. I need not pay attention to a demonstration you would be able to do with your eyes closed now. Though I don't quite understand the differences in Earth levels if gold requires a square Mage, brass requiring triangle and bronze just requiring a dot Mage. I will need to read about it further later. Please find a text book detailing that for me. Hmm...perhaps should I continue with the advanced version? Fire is simple enough...and I have enough knowledge of fire to do so...maybe I should leave that for later and do Hurricane?**_"

Again, Louise wasn't sure what Omega was talking about, but then again, she wasn't really paying attention to him.

She was far too busy drinking in all the shocked stares of her fellow classmates, particularly Kirche's.

The euphoria lasted well after the class ended as Louise walked down the hallway, reading the Telepathy Spell with a smile on her face.

"Hmm...the theory really is simple," Louise muttered.

"_**It is an extremely basic spell to make the need for couriers obsolete,**_" Omega explained."_**On average, most Mages would be able to hold two way communications with those that know the spell within the same building. Extremely powerful Mages would be able to talk to those in other cities or even halfway across the world. Though, at the very moment, I suspect only you and I know of its existence, making it useless unless you wish to simply send messages to other people.**_"

"Hmm...I think I understand it now," Louise said as she closed the book and stared down at it, keeping her mouth shut. "_Can you hear me?_"

"_**Excellent work,**_" came Omega's reply. "_**However, as you are holding me in your hands, it is hardly THAT great of an achievement.**_"

"That's true I suppose," Louise nodded as she looked around. "But...I can hardly leave you in someplace random, walk somewhere else, try it out then, and come back hoping you haven't been stolen by one of the other students."

"_**Heh...as if someone other than yourself would be able to control me. Do you not have anyone you trust to hold onto the Tome for a moment? From that face, I suppose that you don't?**_"

Louise couldn't keep the grimace from her face. She didn't have anyone she was close to in the academy after all. But that didn't mean she didn't have an idea.

"_**Mistress?**_" Omega asked.

"Hold on for a moment," Louise answered as she ran down the hall, looking for something. Something that she found about five minutes later. "Wait a moment! You, Maid!"

A maid with short black hair that had been dusting one of the suits of armor, jumped at being called before turning around toward Louise.

"Y-yes?" she asked. "How may I help you?"

"Do you have any important duties at the moment?" Louise asked.

"No ma'am," the maid shook her head. "Just the dusting and then I have to take a server shift in the dining hall."

"Then I have need of you. I need you to keep an eye on this Tome while you dust. Once you have finished, come find me in the dining hall _before_ the next bell. Is that understood?"

"Yes ma'am," the maid replied as she lowered her head.

"Good, now take it."

"_**Mistress?**_" came Omega's confused voice.

"_This way I will be able to see if I can contact your or not while guaranteeing that you come back in the end_," Louise explained. "_The maid would not risk her job stealing you._"

"_**If you say so. I will wait for your contact then.**_"

"Good."

Louise handed the tome over to the maid and turned around to head down to the dining hall, feeling confident that everything will work out.

* * *

Siesta looked down at the tome that the student had given her.

It was certainly not an ordinary tome if its sleek black cover was any indication.

"I wonder if I could take a peek inside?" Siesta wondered as she looked back up to see whether or not anyone was watching. Not too sure it was a good idea to take a peek out in the hallway, she quickly picked up her feather duster and made her way into an empty classroom where she set the book on a table and gingerly opened it down the middle...

"Huh?"

Only to blink and see that the pages were empty.

Tilting her head in confusion, she closed the book and opened it again, this time at the front.

Now she can see the text, written in Germanian, detailing something that seemed to be a magic spell of some sort.

"So it was a magic spell book..." Siesta muttered as she flipped the page. "But why are some of the pages blank? Maybe they contain that student's notes?"

Siesta looked over the text for a moment before closing it.

What was the point after all. It's not like she was a noble and can use magic. Not to mention that it would be bad if the student knew that she was snooping around.

A small clattering noise caught her attention. Looking down, Siesta saw what looked like a ring next to her foot.

It looked...strange to say the least.

Rather than any sort of gem, it seemed like a small piece of black metal with a golden trim in the shape of a hand.

"Did someone lose this?" Siesta wondered as she bent down to pick it up. "Such a strange ring. I don't recognize the emblem."

* * *

The maid glanced over the ring a few times, but it seemed that she couldn't decide what to do with it.

Nevertheless, it was amusing for Omega to watch.

"_Omega,_" came a voice that vibrated in his world.

"_**Mistress,**_" he greeted. "_**Are you in the dining hall then?**_"

"_Yes! So it works! I am the greatest!_"

"_**You are still transmitting your thoughts, Mistress.**_"

"_Urk..._"

"_**There is nothing to be ashamed of. It is fine to take pride in one's own achievements as long as they remain relevant.**_"

"_Right. Where is the maid?_"

"_**She's cleaning a classroom right now,**_" Omega lied as Siesta was slowly inching her middle finger into the ring. "_**Shall I tell her to head down?**_"

"_Do it. I wish to learn another of your spells._"

"_**Very well.**_"

The communication line cut off just as Siesta put the ring on.

"Huh...it actually fits," Siesta muttered as she examined it. "This is way too bulky for it to be really practical to wear all the time isn't it?"

"_**Shouldn't you be heading down to the dining hall by now?**_"

"Huh? Is someone there?"

The maid turned around to look for the source of the voice, but of course wasn't going to see another person in the room.

"I must be hearing things," she muttered as she tilted her head to the side. "But I really should be heading down now shouldn't I? Siesta, you are talking to yourself again...great..."

If he could have, Omega would have raised an eyebrow in amusement at the maid. But as he was, he could only just lay there as the maid, Siesta, walked over and picked his tome up and head down to what was probably the dining hall.

The dining hall was located in tallest and center-most building on the premises. Inside, three extremely long tables were arranged parallel to each other. Each one looked like it could easily seat a hundred people. The table at which Louise and all the second years sat was the middle table.

Siesta seemed to have easily spotted the pink haired Mage as she crossed the dining hall toward Louise and held the tome out to her.

"Here you are, Ma'am," Siesta said.

"Thank you," Louise nodded, taking the book back and setting it on the seat next to hers. "You may return to your duties."

"By your leave," Siesta nodded as she turned to leave.

Siesta had barely turned around when an explosion rocked the entire hall, causing several people to scream and fall over while Louise and Siesta turned toward the direction of the explosion.

Tall, monstrous, humanoid creatures that looked like they were made out of rock and held together by molten lava were standing in a large hole of the dining hall, several of them wielding long double tipped spears.

"_**What...are those?**_" Omega asked as Louise stared in shock as people started running the opposite way that the hole abominations burst through the wall.

"They're Ghouls!" Louise said as she stood up from the table. "They're hideous creatures that attack human settlements...this is the first time they attacked the academy though...how did they even get past the castle's enchanted walls?"

"_**Ho...**_" Omega muttered in contemplation. "_**So what are you going to do? Your heart rate is increasing, your face is pale, your hands are shaking...all signs of fear. Will you flee with your fellow students?**_"

"No...no I will not!" Louise said as she drew her wand out.

She had magic now...magic that worked! Not just explosions, though she still had those too...

She was a real Mage now. There's no way she could just run while people were in danger!

She had to steel herself, and buy time until the teachers could get here!

"_Fireball_!" Louise shouted, praying with all her might that the transmutation was not just a fluke.

A spark appeared in front of her wand. Then the heat appeared.

And finally, a large ball of red flames shot forward from her wand.

The fireball streaked across the room, and smashed into the foremost Ghoul, blowing it off its feet and into a nearby table where it screeched in pain as the flames continued to burn on it.

"_**Fabulous,**_" came Omega's compliment as the other Ghouls turned toward her and started snarling. "_**Now they are all looking at you. Do try not to die. It would be a pain to look for someone new.**_"

"I am Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Valliere!" Louise declared, her confidence growing as she brandished her wand once more at the Ghouls. "And I will neither die here nor allow you Ghouls to do as you please! _Wind Burst!_"

A fierce wind blew across the dining hall, blowing through tables as it lifted a few ghouls into the air and throwing them to the other side of the hall.

"That's...the Zero?"

"How is she doing all that?"

"First the transmutation and now this?"

"Wasn't she supposed to be a failure?"

Omega let out a small chuckle of amusement as the other students gaped in awe at Louise's new and sudden magical prowess even though she was using just two basic spells over and over again. Though, emboldened by her success, it seems that three other students had joined the fray.

That blue haired girl that Louise returned the novel to was flinging icicles toward the closest Ghouls while Kirche was blasting them with flames even larger than the ones Louise was using. Even that blond haired boy was raising suits of armor from the ground and sending them forward toward to attack the Ghouls and attempt to protect the others while they were chanting a new spell.

Suddenly, Omega felt his tome be picked up off the table by someone and felt his world shake as it was suddenly smashed against the back of a Ghoul's head.

"Run!"

"R-right!"

It was Siesta. It seems that one of the Ghouls had attempted to attack a fellow maid and Siesta had picked up the closest thing to her, Omega's tome, and used it as a blunt object to save her friend.

But of course, the Ghoul wasn't just going to let them leave. The blow of the book was so minimal she might as well have hit it with a pillow.

With a growl it turned towards the two maids with its spear raised, ready to strike.

"Nooo!" Siesta screamed as she raised the book up, as if hoping that it would shield her from the blow.

"_**Really now...**_" Omega sighed. "**_I can't let you damage my containment now, can I?_**"

"Eh?"

A large black and red triangle appeared in front of the tome, easily stopping the spear in its tracks before it pushed forward, smashing into the Ghoul and knocking it away.

"Siesta?" the other maid asked. "Did you do that?"

"I...don't think so?" Siesta replied as she stared at the book. "What are you..."

"_**Open my tome,**_" Omega demanded. "**_Now._**"

And she did.

[_**Seele Flügel**_!]

A large claw of red and black fire, the size of a man's body, erupted from the book and raised itself high above the Ghoul that had been blown away, catching the attention of all the occupants in the dining hall, causing them to freeze and stare at the maid with the book.

The claw then slammed down on the Ghoul and closed around it, causing it to roar with pain as a searing noise echoed in the hall.

"_**Disappear.**_"

And the claw squeezed, causing the Ghoul to explode within its grasp, and as the claw opened up, its ashes began littering the dining hall, save for a small white orb of light which slowly fell into the open book instead.

"_**Oi, Maid,**_" Omega said, causing Siesta to look down at him. "_**It seems that these creatures have linker cores that I can harvest. Lend me your body for a moment.**_"

"What?" Siesta shrieked just as two more Ghouls charged at her, only for the claw to swat them away like flies.

"_**Come now, it seems my little show has attracted the attention of these Ghouls. Lend me your body, and in return, I will destroy every last one of these Ghouls and protect your fellows. What say you?**_"

"I...I..." Siesta began as she looked around.

The student Mages that had been fighting the Ghouls had been cut off by the mob and on the other side were other servants, crowding in a corner as several more Ghouls were advancing on them.

"If you can protect my friends...!"

"_**Of course...I will not let you down.**_"

[_**ANFANG!**_]

A white light erupted from the tome, enveloping Siesta as the maid shielded her eyes with her arm.

Then, as the light died down, her body was different.

Her black hair was now white as snow and her blue eyes were now a deep golden color. Around her waist was a belt with a black hand with golden trimmings for a buckle.

"Siesta?" the other maid asked.

"Omega?" Louise called out. "What did you do to that maid?"

"_**Do not worry, Mistress,**_" Siesta called out, her voice a mixture of both Omega's and her own voice in a weird flanging effect as she moved her hand with the ring over the belt buckle.

[**DRIVER ON! PLEASE!**]

The belt changed shape, turning into a large metal one with two switches around the buckle as the Tome floated up beside Siesta, the pages fluttering to the side before stopping on a page depicting a ring with a circular ruby on it.

**[_SCHAFFEN RING!_]**

Another red and black magical triangle appeared in front of the book as Siesta moved her hand underneath it, allowing a ruby ring to fall into her hand, which she then placed on her left hand.

"_**These Ghouls will not bother anyone else.**_"

Pushing down on the right switch with her right hand and flipping the left switch up with her left hand, the hand buckle, which had been pointing to the bottom right, flipped over to point to the bottom left as the belt started speaking.

[**SHA BA DO BE TOUCH HENSHIN! SHA BA DO BE TOUCH HENSHIN!**]

"_**Henshin,**_" Siesta said calmly as she flipped the small white flap that was over the ruby ring on her left hand and moved it in front of the buckle.

[**FLAME! PLEASE!**] the belt called out as the ring flashed a red light, creating a large red magical circle to her left, which started burning as it moved across her outstretched hand and onto her body. [**HII...HII! ****火****HII! HII! HII!**]

"Fire?" Kirche gasped. "The maid can use magic?"

Once the flaming circle passed through the entirety of her body, Siesta was suddenly wrapped in a long trench coat, black on the outside with a red interior, with silver trimmings that led up to large metal black shoulder pads. On her chest was now a breastplate which shined as if it was made out of rubies itself, with silver trimmings separating the pieces into three segments on each side of her body.

Over her face was a large helmet with a "V" shaped antennae over another large ruby shaped visor that was segmented by silver lines like the flap over the ring on her left finger.

"_**Now then...**_" the new armored Mage said as she brought her left hand in front of her face, showing the red ring which was a direct mirror to her visor. "_**It's showtime.**_"

At her words, the Ghouls all turned toward her and rushed her like a swarm of angry ants, ignoring the students and staff.

"_**Tome, bestow upon me my weapon!**_" the Mage called out as she flipped the switches so that the hand was pointing toward the bottom right again.

[_VERBINDEN!_]

Another small ring appeared appeared in her hand as she removed the ring with the hand emblem off her right hand and replaced it with the new ring before moving it in front of the hand.

[**CONNECT! PLEASE!**]

A red circle appeared beside her head as she stuck her right hand into it, and pulled out a strange silver one-handed musket with a hand on it and walked toward the oncoming mob of Ghouls without fear.

Without missing a beat, she pointed the musket at the closest Ghoul.

BANG!

The shot hit its target in a flash, causing sparks to explode from its chest and be knocked aside.

BANG! BANG!

Two more shots, and two more Ghouls fell to the strange musket that did not need to be reloaded after every shot.

A fourth Ghoul pushed its way past one of the falling Ghouls and swung its spear at the Maid Mage, but she easily dodged it by running past it and sliding on one of the nearby tables to avoid a fifth Ghoul that tried to attack her as well.

Spinning to a stop on the ground, she used the momentum of the spin to swing her foot at another Ghoul kicking it back into the mob, knocking several of the Ghouls over.

She then flipped herself over, bringing her leg down on another Ghoul, before using it to flip herself over to kick another and then another before finally landing back down on the ground and shoot three more Ghouls with her gun.

One Ghoul took a swing at her, but Siesta easily caught it with her left arm. Pulling the shaft toward her, she tucked the spear under her arm and shot the Ghoul that was holding it twice before delivering a roundhouse kick to it's chest, knocking it back out the hole that they created, causing all the remaining Ghouls to rush out into the open after it.

Siesta then pushed the barrel of the gun upward, and with a simple slide of her thumb against the barrel, caused a blade to fold outward, effectively turning the gun into a sword, which she used to charge through the mob.

The first two were absentmindedly cut across the chest as she charged toward a third, which attempted to stab her but it was easily parried and knocked aside, allowing her to stab a fourth Ghoul instead.

Then with a great leap, she managed to get herself way out into the open field, and the Ghouls proceeded to completely surround her.

"_**Heh...**_" a small sneer escaped her mouth as she bent the sword at an angle and flipped the blade back in, turning it back into a gun.

She then pushed the thumb of the hand symbol of the gun, causing the hand to open up and reveal its palm, which flashed a magic circle out.

[**C'MON SHOOTING! SHAKE HANDS!**]

And to answer the gun's request, she moved her left hand over it, causing a spiral of hot red fire to form at the barrel of the gun.

[**FLAME! SHOOTING STRIKE! HII! HII! HII! ****火****HII! HII! HII!**]

It was almost as if the gun was laughing as she spun around and fired great balls of fire at the Ghouls, reducing them all to little more than ash.

And then, the battle and danger was over.

"_**Come...**_" Siesta said as she held her hand out.

Without warning, the tome appeared in her hand as the book's pages began flipping through for a moment before stopping.

[_ABSORBTION!_]

Several orbs of light flew up from the ashes of the Ghouls and were slowly absorbed by the book before Siesta slammed the book shut.

"_**Whew...**_" she sighed as her arms dropped.

"Omega!"

"Siesta!"

A pair of voices called out to her as Siesta turned back toward the hole in the wall.

Louise and the other maid were climbing through the rubble and running out toward them, stopping just a few feet away.

"Siesta?" the maid asked again. "Is that you in there?"

"_**Yes...and no,**_" came the flanging reply. "_**This body does indeed belong to the one you call Siesta...but right now, I am the one in control.**_"

"Omega...what did you do?" Louise demanded. "You...how...?"

"_**Have I not told you the moment we met, Mistress?**_" Omega replied to Louise alone."_**Each and every person in this castle is capable of magic. This maid is no exception...though the quality of her Linker Core seems to be slightly above average...interesting...**_"

"Give Siesta back!" the maid said as she ran up and grabbed the Mage by the shoulders. "It's not your body so give her back!"

"_**Yes yes,**_" Omega replied as he pulled the maid's hands off of their shoulders. "_**Keep your skirt on. But do be ready to catch her. It seems I overexerted her.**_"

"Huh?" the two girls asked at the same time as a red circle appeared at the Mage's feet and rose up to her head, causing the armor to disappear, leaving an unarmored, black haired, blue-eyed Siesta standing there for about two seconds before she fell forward, right into Louise and the other maid's arms.

Omega's book however, fell straight to the ground.

"Siesta! Siesta!"

"Gah! You're heavy! Wake up!"

"What happened here?"

The third voice caught Louise's attention as she turned back toward the hole to see the Headmaster and several teachers, including Colbert, standing there.

"Uhh...I think I can explain?" Louise offered meekly as she looked down at the tome, only to get no response from her familiar. "Maybe?"

* * *

It was like watching a play.

A Mage knight in red and black armor was fighting the monsters that traversed the land, hunting, killing and dragging humans off to who knows where.

She had heard the stories of course, how it would take a dozen Mage Knights to handle a band of Ghouls this size...and yet this single Mage was defeating them all without breaking a sweat.

And...it was her?

"Amazing, isn't it?" a voice behind her asked, making Siesta spin around.

There, sitting on a large arm chair in the middle of the dark and empty world was a man with snow white hair and golden eyes. He was wearing very little. A tight sleeveless black top that ended just above his stomach with a pair of equally tight and shot pants.

"Who...are you?" Siesta asked, trying her damnedest to maintain eye contact and was failing admirably.

"I suppose you can call me the Spirit of the Book you had in your hands," the man answered before gesturing to his side where another armchair suddenly appeared from within the darkness. "Come, sit with me."

Siesta looked at the chair for a moment, then back toward the man, before moving over to sit down on the chair. She was still facing the window where the Mage Knight was tearing through the Ghouls like they were made out of parchment.

"You know, you are a lot more nimble than I had expected," the spirit said as Siesta watched the knight flip back and forth, kicking the Ghouls as it did.

"Is...that really me?" Siesta asked.

"Yes and no," the spirit replied. "It is your body, yes. Are you doing that yourself? No. I am empowering your body from within my book. Is your body the one casting those spells? Yes."

"Casting...I'm a Mage?" she asked, her neck cracking a bit as she turned back toward the spirit.

"In the normal term...no," the spirit shook his head. "You do not normally practice magic, so you technically cannot be called a Mage. You can however, learn to use magic...not the one that your nobles use no, but the one you see in front of you...the magic that _I_ can use."

"I don't quite understand..." Siesta replied as she rubbed her neck. "How can I be a mage? My family has always been farmers..."

"Think about this for a moment. You recall how Mages use wands to cast spells, correct?"

"Yes..."

"Right now...think of your body as a wand that I am using. A wand is a specially crafted focus for Mages to channel their magic through and the wands themselves are magical in that a Mage can't just pick up a branch and use it to cast magic. And since you are my wand, you yourself are magical. But as I said before, you still won't be able to use wand magic, but at the very least you can use my special ring magic...that is, if you wish to learn to do so."

"I...yes!" Siesta said as she stood up and rushed over to the spirit's chair. "I want to learn! Using magic is a dream come true! Please teach me!"

"I will do so then, with a few conditions of course," the spirit said as he placed a hand on her shoulder and pushed her away from his personal space.

"Anything!"

"Number 1: You will be learning magic to protect my mistress."

"Your mistress? The short pink haired noble?"

"That's right. Number 2: My mistress will have the last word as to whether or not you can be trained. I am nothing more than a familiar after all."

"I see...that's...understandable...I suppose."

"No need to be disheartened, I will attempt to convince her as well. Number 3: You will not attempt to use any magic without my supervision. I don't want you to hurt yourself or someone else."

"Yes."

"Number 4: Should the need arise, I will take control of your body to use it to defend yourself and my Mistress. Is that fine with you?"

Siesta turned back toward the window, just as the knight was finishing the rest of the Ghouls by shooting fireballs from her gun instead of bullets.

She could feel a hunger in her soul.

She wanted to do that.

She wanted to cast spells and fight like a knight in those novels.

Granted she always thought she would be the fair maiden that would be rescued, but the knight was enough of a consolation prize.

"Yes, that is fine," she said finally and the spirit smiled.

"Good," the spirit said as he pushed himself up to his feet. "My name is Material-O. O for Origin. Omega the End. My...family used to call me Zero."

"I am Siesta of Tarbes," Siesta said with a professional courtesy. "It is an honor to meet you, Mister Zero. Please take care of me from now on."

"Provided you still feel the same once you leave and wake up...sure," Omega said with a smile.

"Huh?"

* * *

Siesta's eyes opened and she found herself staring up at a stone ceiling with every single muscle in her body screaming out in pain, to the point that she couldn't even open her mouth and instead simply let out a groan.

"Oh, you are awake," a voice to her side said.

Turning her head, she saw it was the physician that took care of the sick nobles. Does this mean she was in the Hospital Wing? Wasn't that reserved for the students and teachers only?

"Do you remember anything that happened?" the physician asked to which Siesta could only nod her head back and forth uselessly. "Hmm...I suppose your muscles are still healing. How about this, if you remember anything, blink three times."

She did so.

"Okay, that's good. Now, did you know you were a Mage? Blink twice for yes, three times for no."

She blinked three times.

"Really now...that is strange..."

The sound of the door opening reached her ears as the physician turned around.

"Is she awake?" came a girl's voice.

"She is, but she's far from recovered or able to speak coherently."

"I still wish to see her. It's my fault she's like that after all."

"Very well, Miss Valliere. I will give you ten minutes. The girl needs her rest."

The physician then walked away and was replaced by the pink haired Mage holding the black tomb.

She looked at the tome for a moment before a red and black light began glowing from it.

"_Can you hear me?_" came the girl's voice from inside Siesta's head, causing her eyes to widen. "_I'm just talking inside your head, nothing to be scared of. This way you can talk back to me without resorting to crude sign language. Just think of what you want to say and my familiar will relay it back and forth between us._"

"_Your familiar?_" Siesta thought. "_You mean the spirit?_"

"_**Yes that's right,**_" came Omega's voice.

"_Quiet Omega,_" the girl snapped. "_You caused me enough trouble for one night!_"

"_**I would hardly call saving your peers**__**causing you trouble. Besides, don't you now have the recognition that you wanted? Being the first one to spring into action with a powerful fire and wind spell in defense of your peers.**_"

"_And then I was called up to the headmaster to explain just how a maid was suddenly able to use magic! And the fact that you vanished halfway through the questioning!_"

"_**I had to replenish my energy. It has been a while since I have been able to cut loose, especially considering I had to use another person's body to fight as you won't allow me to drain the Linker Cores of the humans here. I would be able to use my true body by day's end if you would.**_"

"_No no and no!_"

"_Um..._" Siesta thought out, trying to make sense of the argument going on in her head.

"_Oh right,_" the other girl nodded as she turned back to Siesta. "_My name is __Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Valliere, and as I said before, my familiar is the reason you are in so much pain right now._"

"_**Several torn tendons and muscles, pulled hamstrings, and a broken big toe on your right foot,**_" chimed Omega before Louise dropped the tome and stepped on it. "_**Ow! Ow ow ow!**_"

"_He has also informed me of the contract he wishes to form with you,_" Louise continued as she ground her heel into the cover.

"_Yes...about that..._" Siesta began. "_I wasn't really thinking clearly at first but...if you already have a mistress, Mister Spirit...why do you need to use my body?_"

"_**Simple really. Her body is not suited for it.**_"

"_And just WHAT is that supposed to mean?_" Louise asked, turning down toward the tome and picking it back up. "_If you are insulting my height, Familiar..._"

"_**Not at all. At least, not insulting. You see the state that Siesta here is in. She is a maid who spends most of her time on the move and is probably used to carrying around heavy objects back and forth all day. This means her body is basically trained and fit. You, Mistress, are a Mage and a noble. The most exercise I assume you do is walk between classes while carrying your notes and text books. The muscles in your arms and legs are rarely ever used. If I had taken your body to fight, you might be in even worse shape than Siesta.**_"

Siesta saw Louise grimace at that as the Mage looked the maid over, no doubt deciding that she definitely did NOT want to be put in worse condition.

"_But why me in the first place?_" Siesta asked.

"_**Because Louise entrusted my Tome to you. The simple thing of offering my book for you to hold on to means that you have secondary access to it and its contents. Primary access still belongs to Louise though, and she can prevent you from accessing anything she doesn't want you to. Administrative access however, belongs to me, as it is my home.**_"

"_Does that mean you can restrict spells even from me?_" Louise asked.

"_**Of course. Unless you WANT to know about the spells that absorb a human into my book and imprison them in a living hell for all eternity? Or one that can summon a monstrous creature beyond human comprehension that will wreck havoc across the land with no way of controlling it?**_"

"_Omega...as your mistress, I order you to seal any and all such spells so that no one will ever be able to access them...ever!_" Louise ordered.

"_**Of course**_," Omega replied and Siesta felt that he was enjoying himself.

"_So...if I give your tome to someone else to hold..._"

"_**I would grant them a secondary access account but I would not be able to use their body the same way as I used Siesta's.**_"

"_Really?_" Siesta asked. "_Why not?_"

"_**The Wizardriver has already locked you as its user. The only way for the user to change is if you were to willingly give it up and I agree to retake it and transfer it over.**_"

"_And you won't do so because...?_"

"_**Because it would be the equivalent of throwing out an entire bookshelf's worth of information and then rewrite the same information while making small changes to match the new user. Too much work for little reason. The only way I'll accept a change in users is if you die or become crippled. Of course, if it's something like losing an arm or a leg I can easily replace those so it as to be something bad, like your spine being severed or something.**_"

"_You make it sound like it's a common thing..._" Louise deadpanned.

"_**When one lives through countless times of human strife, one tends to see a lot of limbs being lost.**_"

"_How old are you exactly, if you don't mind me asking?_" Siesta asked.

"_**Hmm...I don't honestly remember,**_" Omega said after a moment of contemplation. "_**When one has a life that doesn't expire naturally, one doesn't really count the number of seasons that pass. In any case, Mistress. Will you allow Siesta to use my power in order to better protect you?**_"

Louise crossed her arms in front of her chest and closed her eyes in thought. Finally, after about five minutes she nodded.

"Very well," she spoke aloud. "So long as you prioritize _my_ learning experience over hers."

"_**Teaching two people at once will not be a problem,**_" came the reply. "_**H****owever...I wonder what will happen with your maid duties now, Siesta? From what little I've seen and understand of your society, I highly doubt that these nobles will allow themselves to let a Mage continue to be a servant.**_"

"_If you had paid attention to the second half of the questioning, Omega, you would have known that the Headmaster offered me Siesta's contract as a reward for you subduing the Ghouls. I won't be paying you anything other than the basic needs for your survival, Siesta. The real payment will be allowing Omega to teach you magic. Is that understood?_"

"_Y-yes...Mistress._"

"_**First off, let's get her out of bed. Mistress, please read this spell.**_"

* * *

The book rose up in front of Louise and the pages opened up to reveal a new spell for Louise.

"_Calming Heal_?" Louise asked. "_A wind based healing spell? How is that supposed to work?_"

"_**What do you mean?**_"

"_Healing magic is always water magic! You use it to command the water in the body to heal wounds!_"

"_**You may read up on the details later. For now, just cast the spell.**_"

Louise let out a huff as she chanted the spell.

A small white magical array appeared in front of Louise as a soft wind began blowing in the room.

Even though Louise was not the target of the spell, she felt relaxed and and calm as it felt like the weight of the world was lifted off her shoulders.

And then it was over.

"_That was..._" Siesta began as she sat up and looked at her own hands. "_Amazing_..."

"_**I'm sure it was, but that spell is impractical for you to learn right off the bat Siesta. You will be learning combat orientated spells mostly as well as smaller useful ones like the Connect spell that allows you to retrieve items from from far distances.**_"

"_You mean like how you pulled that silver musket...sword...whatever it was out of an array during the battle with the Ghouls?_" Louise asked.

"_**Indeed. You can even send people through it if the array is big enough.**_"

"_That's very convenient!_" Siesta said as she clapped her hands. "_So I can visit my family whenever I want then?_"

"_**That depends on the distance, but in theory if you have the mana for it, you should be able to.**_"

"_And what about me?_" Louise demanded.

"_**A teleportation spell would be more down your alley I believe. It uses a lot more mana or Willpower if you wish to call it that, but you would be able to travel anywhere you wish.**_"

"_Humph, that will have to do then. Now then, Siesta. As you are now my personal handmaiden, you will be staying in my room with me. So pack your things from your quarters and move on up._"

"_Yes...Mistress,_" Siesta said after a moment as she slowly and gingerly sat up and stood up from the bed. "_What about the..._"

"Physician!" Louise shouted. "Siesta seems to have finished healing so I'm taking her out."

"What?" came the reply. "But she...has...I...what..."

The physician just stared at the now standing maid before rubbing his eyes with his hand.

"I must be getting tired. Very well, you are free to go then."

"Simple enough," Louise said as she snapped her fingers and walked out the door with book in hand. Siesta tilted her head to the side for a moment before running after her new boss.

Siesta had always thought she would be a simple commoner, being bound to the whims of nobles.

This spirit however, had offered her a way out. Not just a way out, but a completely different path, almost the polar opposite.

She would see this through to the end. It was too good not to.

* * *

Chapter's End Corner

**Harouki**: A small continuation! Life is Showtime! Material-O is reborn as Kamen Rider Wizard! With a little bit of Beast thrown in so that he can fill up the 666 pages of the new Book of Darkness. Granted I came up with Material-O absorbing the magic of defeated Ghouls and Phantoms before Beast showed up in the story and I didn't read anything about him from the magazines or on the wiki so I was pleasantly surprised to see it.

I find it strange though, that fans didn't immediately jump into summoning Wizard into the ZnT-verse except for one other person...but I haven't read it myself to determine the quality but the reviews are...not inspiring. Anyway...think about it! Haruto uses Fire Water Wind and Earth, the four elements in ZnT. And then we have the White Wizard who uses Explosion and Teleport! It's perfect!

Anyway, back to Persona Magi Madoka Magica and Code Magi Lyrical Rider StrikerS. Hopefully I can get a chapter done on either of them before the month's over.


	7. Code Magi Lyrical Rider Negima! 1

**Code Magi Lyrical Rider Negima!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Darkness Reborn**

* * *

"So...this is hell, huh?"

A single man was floating in the darkness. He had pale white skin and was wearing a pure white tux with white slacks and a white hat. Even his hair was white. One could have thought the man was a holy being...but he knew better. He was white because he was black. He dressed within the light because he was the darkness.

The Darkness of the Book of Darkness, NachtWal.

The Eternal Rider.

The Destroyer of Worlds.

The Origin and Omega of Materials.

The Zero.

Those were his names and titles and he bore them all with pride without a single bit of remorse.

"But...if this is hell...it certainly is boring," he sighed as he spun around in the space. "How can I enjoy it if there is nothing there."

"_It's too early to give up_," a voice called out to him.

"Who's giving up? Is giving up and acceptance really the same thing? I wanted this. This is my hell. For the crimes of the Book. For the crimes Mother, the Knight Programs, and my cute little sisters committed, I am willing to bear them all. Just like how my Original gathered all the hate of the world and died along with them, I gathered all the grief and darkness of the newborn Tome and the Grief outputted by Kaname Madoka's wish...and died with them. What's there to be sad about?"

"_If that is true...then why are you crying?_"

"Because there is nothing happening. Nothing to do but to talk to a voice in my head. I am crying of boredom. What happened to the eternity of torture for sinners that some human tome talks about? I feel a little ripped off."

"_Even though you've been suffering all this time...you wish to suffer even more?_"

"What are you supposed to be anyway? A criminal's conscious? Oh, I get it now. I have to listen to you for all eternity! That's my punishment! Great..."

"J_eez...it's not like that!_"

Suddenly, the darkness vanished as the man's spinning came to a halt and he started falling. He then landed on the ground with a dull thud and started rolling on the ground, holding onto the back of his head in pain.

"Ah, I'm sorry!"

The man stopped rolling around for a moment when he heard a woman's voice. He then tilted his head up while still keeping his hands on the back of it.

"You..." he spoke, recognizing the woman instantly. "But..."

"Hmm...not exactly 'me' per se," the woman said, holding a finger to her cheek. "But close. You know how it is don't you? Seeing as you have a copy of his memories."

"Parallels..."

"Correct. You win!"

"That was a quiz?" the man asked, raising an eyebrow.

"And what you win is a new chance at life!"

"What?"

The man stared dumbly at the woman in front of him as she pulled out what looked like a map of some sorts and hung it up in mid air as she looked it over.

"Hmm...but where should I put you?" she wondered. "I can't put you in any of the dimensions that the Bureau exists or else I would cause a massive paradox that could blow everything up again..."

"Wait a minute, I don't want to go back!" the man said quickly. "There's no point if...if..."

"If you can't see your family?" the woman finished for him, causing him to look away. "If that's the case, then wouldn't staying in this space be the same punishment, only worse due to the fact that you cannot see or speak with anyone at all?"

"On the contrary. Being limited to none is far more acceptable than being limited to many with exception. What is the point of being able to do something when the thing you wish for the most is our of your grasp? It would simply be an empty void."

"I suppose you're right," the woman nodded, looking somewhat...wistful as she looked over at an empty spot in the world as if she could see something there. "If you are able to have everything but the thing you wish for the most, then what's the point of having anything at all."

"So you understand?" the man asked. "So leave me be."

"I can't do that," the woman replied. "Just leaving you in here is too sad. At the very least, I can give you a new life for your hard work...ah, and I know just the perfect spot."

"Oi, wait a moment! If you do that, there's a chance that I'll..."

"Good luck out there, Zero-san," the woman said with a wave.

"Wait a minute!" Zero said as he felt himself being pulled by an invisible force. "Wait a minute here!"

"I couldn't stop it even if I wanted to," Ultimate Madoka said with a smile. "That child needs your help. He needs a kindhearted male role model in his life after all."

"But if I go like this...the darkness will..."

"Then you should try had to make sure you don't lose to that darkness. You are a copy of the the man of miracles. Therefore, you should make your own miracle once more."

"Maaaadoookaaaa!"

_But it was too late as the former Darkness of the Book of Darkness was pulled into the red and black vortex behind him._

* * *

Zero landed with a heavy thud on his back.

Though the pain was negligible, it was still disorientating and he had to wait a moment before he could sit up again.

"Damn it..." he groaned, placing a hand over his eye. "Where am I?"

As his senses came back to him, he opened his eyes...

And saw destruction.

A large town in front of him was burning.

He had thought it was high noon due to the heat against his body or at least sunset due to the color of the sky.

However, the heat and color came from the flames in front of him.

The cause of which was obvious. Hundreds of black winged creatures were flying over head, casting various magics down on the buildings and people below.

"What...is..." he began as a sharp pain struck his left eye, causing him to fall over and press a hand against his eye again. "What's going..."

And the scene in front of him became distorted.

Visions of hundreds of other cities and civilizations became superimposed over the natural scene in front of him.

People, animals, buildings, trees...all life burned and crumbled into dust.

And above it all...a sorrowful figure with black wings watching it all.

"Like that time...like all the other times..." he growled as he pushed himself up to his feet, his hand still covering his eye as a deep red fluid began falling down his cheek. "Can I continue to do nothing but watch worlds burn? No...I am not a program any longer..."

The blood on his face began to flow faster as he lowered his hand down, his vision slowly being tinted in red.

"Our name is Material-O!" Zero roared as blood red and black wings sprouted from his back. "O for Origin! Omega the End! Zero the Demon King! I will show you...the power to destroy worlds! The power of NachtWal!"

And in a flash, he lunged forward toward one of the larger black monsters.

The monster turned its head toward him as he saw Zero pass by him. The next instant, half of its face disappeared, leaving melted flesh and bone in its place, causing it to slump over and crumble to dust.

"**W-what was-**" another monster asked before the entire left side of its body was also melted off.

"**Over there!**"

One of the monsters pointed toward Omega, who was in the middle of the city square, crouched over with two large chunks of flesh in his Soul Wings.

"_What I seek is beyond the Soul..._" he muttered as his hand-like wings dropped the chunks of black and red onto the ground, allowing it to crumble away as he lunged forward again toward another monster, plunging his hand into a small window that had opened up in its chest. "_I bring forth what it is that I sought from beyond the Soul. Come...my Blood Flame Sword._"

Pulling away from the monster, Zero pulled a large red pillar, nearly three times his size, with golden linings out of its chest. Blood red energy was swirling around the so-called "Sword" as he held it in its hand and it across across the monster's chest, utterly ripping it to shreds along with the building behind it in a torrent of red energy.

"**W-what the hell is that guy?**"

"**He ain't any demon I know!**"

"Demon?" Zero asked as he flung the sword like a javelin at another of the larger monsters in the middle of the pack, causing it to quickly raise its hands up and cast a barrier of sorts an block it.

The sword was held in place as it continued to try and pierce through the demon's barrier. The barrier held for a split second before Zero flew forward and kicked the end of the sword, causing it to pierce the barrier, shatter the demon's hands and impale it in the chest.

"You all are nothing but rats before my eyes. _Erupt...Ancient Matrix._"

Kicking off the sword, Zero flew to a safe place as the sword erupted in a torrent of red and black energy, ripping the demon and countless others around it to shreds.

"Next up is..." Zero muttered as he turned around. "Wha..."

In front of him were countless people frozen in place in a battle pose.

It wasn't a voluntary freeze however as their bodies had been turned into stone.

"What is this magic...?" he asked as he walked up to one of them. "Petrification? Is it reversible...?"

A small gasp reached his ears amongst the torrent of flames, causing him to spin around with one of his wings lunged forward...only to stop as his eyes met that of a tiny boy.

"A child...?"

"A...ahhh..." the boy whimpered as he slowly started backing away, his eyes turning from Zero to the statues behind him.

"W-wait a minute," Zero said quickly. "I didn't do-"

But the boy had already run off, deeper into the flames.

"Wait a minute! It's dangerous over-" Zero shouted as he rushed after the boy, his eyes catching sight of a mirror on display in one of the buildings, allowing him to see his reflection.

He was dressed in only a pair of white pants that seemed to poof out and sag around his legs. His torso was covered in dozens of small pulsing red lines emanating from his chest. His left eye was glowing a blood red color while his right was glowing yellow. Lastly, his hear was spiked and ragged, extending from the back of his head down to his waist.

Basically, he did not really look like something that a young boy should come to for safety.

"Even so..." Zero muttered as his wings roared to life. "I can't just ignore him."

Turning back toward the direction the boy ran off, he let out a burst of magic and chased after him.

He found the boy a few seconds later, standing behind a man wearing flowing white robes with his hand stretched out to stop a giant demon from crushing the both of them.

"Who is..." Zero began as the man pushed the demon away before sending out dozens of lightning bolts down on the demon, destroying it. "Amazing..."

Zero was quickly shaken out of his stupor when a large mob of demons came out of the ground and lunged at the two of them.

Speeding forward, he flew up into the air for a moment before slamming himself down behind the man and the boy and sent one of his wings out toward a demon and crushed it within his grasp.

Zero turned around to see that the man was looking at him strangely before turning his back toward him and punching a demon in the chest, knocking it up into the air before kicking it back into its fellows and blowing them aside. Not to be outdone, Zero formed his wings into sharp burning blades and swept it across the demons in his area, cleaving several of them in two.

Both men then pulled their hands back as they quickly chanted another spell.

"_Jovis Tempestas Fulguriens!_"

"_Diabolic Emission!_"

A large pillar of lightning shot forward from the robed man, blasting away all the demons in his path while a large black sphere formed above Zero which he threw forward and crushed the demons in front of him into dust.

As the dust died down, Zero turned around to see the robed man holding one of the demons by the neck as he glared at him.

"**I see...you're that...**" the demon began before letting out a laugh. "**At that power...it's hard to tell which one of us is the monster...**"

The man simply responded by breaking the demon's neck and letting it drop to the ground.

"The demon knew him...?" Zero muttered. "What exactly is..."

A shuffling behind Zero caught his attention and he turned to see the boy running away in fear.

"Oi!" Zero called out as he and the man made a move to stop the boy, only for even more demons to appear behind them. "Pretentious insects...!"

Zero made a move to turn back around and burn them all to ash when the man held his arm out in front of Zero to stop him.

"Go after the boy," he said as he stepped toward the demons.

"You're trusting something like me with a kid?" Zero asked.

"You're fighting against the demons and haven't tried to attack either of us. At the very least, you aren't an enemy. Now hurry! I'll catch up!"

"Tch...fine. I'll leave this in your hands then!" Zero nodded as he ran after the boy, leaving the man to fight the demons alone. Judging from the sounds of lightning and explosions behind him, he would be just fine.

Zero found the boy just a few meters away and not a moment too soon as a spiral horned demon landed on the rubble of a nearby building and opened its mouth to blast some sort of spell at the boy.

"I won't make it!" Zero cursed.

But he didn't have to as two people, a young woman and an old man, stepped in front of the boy with their hands stretched forward.

Immediately, their bodies began to turn to stone, starting from their legs.

"The petrification spell!" Zero realized as he quickly inserted himself between the three of them and the demon.

"Wha-" the old man gasped as Zero held out a wing in front of him to take the full blast of the spell.

His eyes widened as he saw that the spell was actually even turning his wing and arm into stone.

"Kyaah!"

"Akane!"

A loud scream came out behind him, causing him to look behind him and saw that the woman's legs had snapped, causing her to fall to the ground. However, he also saw that her body had stopped turning into stone.

Without hesitating for a second, Zero rose his right arm up and slammed it into the stone arm and severed it from his body, halting the spread of the spell. He then turned his attention toward the old man and swung his arm it at his legs, shattering them as well.

The old man let out a grunt of pain as he hit the ground, but it seemed the spell had stopped as well.

The demon landed on the ground in front of Zero, summoning what looked like a blob of shadows out of the ground and directed it to jump at Zero.

"Don't underestimate...me!" Zero shouted as dozens of red and black orbs of lightning appeared in front of him. "_Photon Lancer! Genocide Shift!_"

The orbs all flew out at once, smashing into the demons, destroying the smaller one but only managing to push the bigger one back and knocking it to the ground.

"What kind of spell...?" the old man muttered behind Zero but he ignored him as he raised his hand up into the air.

"_In an ancient land, sink into the darkness!_" Zero chanted as the same black mass from before expanded into the sky before being compressed into a small black orb in his hand. Before the demon could regain itself, Zero struck. Leaping forward, he slammed the compressed ball of magic into the demon's chest. "_**Diabolic Emission...BRUST!**_"

The sphere erupted in front of Zero and engulfed the demon.

The black sphere ate away at its body as well as the ground below him, leaving nothing but a large crater with Zero flying above and looking down at it with contempt.

"Who are you?"

The words snapped Zero back to earth as he turned around and saw that the old man had imposed himself between Zero and the young woman and the boy.

Zero looked at the woman's and old man's legs as well as his own shoulder for a moment before saying, "A friend...I suppose..."

The old man looked at him for a little longer before sighing.

"I suppose you did help us," he nodded as he pointed at Zero's shoulder. " The spell may have been stopped temporarily but it will continue if we don't get it checked. Do you know if any of the healers-"

His words were cut off when someone landed on the ground behind him.

Zero and the old man turned toward the newcomer and Zero recognized him as the man who was fighting the crowd of demons earlier.

"You're late," Zero said simply as he rubbed his stump of an arm.

"Sorry," the robed man said. "Are these three the only ones left?"

"Probably."

"Y-you!" the old man gasped as he looked up at the robed man. "When did you..."

"Hahaha...hanging in there, Old man?"

"Where have you been all these years?" the old man shouted. "Do you know how long...nrgh..."

The old man winced as he grabbed his leg.

"You should probably take care of that first before scolding me, old man..."

"Shut up!" the old man snapped as the robed man chanted a spell on the old man's and girl's legs as well as Zero's arm. "Just wait right there and I'll give you a piece of my mind!"

"As much as I look forward to that...I'm already out of time..."

"What are you talking about?" the old man continued. "Wait a moment, Nagi!"

"Na...gi...?" the boy asked as he looked at the old man before turning toward the robed man. "Father?"

"Father?" the robed man asked as he turned to the boy. "Oh...are you...Negi?"

The robed man knelt down and patted the boy on the head.

"Hahaha...you've grown up haven't you?" he said before turning toward the staff in his hand. "Oh, I know! Why don't you take this staff as a memento?"

"Huh?" the boy asked as he took the staff, only for its head to clink down onto the grass. "Auuh...!"

"Hahaha, still too heavy huh?"

"Nagi!" the old man shouted again as the man called Nagi rose up into the air.

"Sorry old man, time's up," Nagi said with a wry smile. "Sorry I can't do anything more...but thanks for raising the kid for me. Hey, fire boy!"

"Me?" Zero asked, startled at being suddenly addressed.

"Since you helped out here, you mind making sure these three get to safety?" Nagi asked.

"...Sure..."

"Father!" Negi shouted as he ran after Nagi.

"Sorry Negi..." Nagi said as he began to disappear. "I know I don't really have a right to say it but...grow up well."

"Father!" Negi cried as he slipped and fell flat on his face. When the boy looked up again, Nagi was already gone. "Fa...ther..."

"Just what has that man gotten himself into now...?" the old man asked as Negi started crying. He then turned toward Zero. "Do you know anything?"

"No," Zero replied. "I only met him a few minutes ago and was fighting the demons."

"The demons huh...you sure you're not one yourself?"

"Who can say..." Zero replied, looking at his remaining hand. "I may not be human, but at the very least I can say that I am no demon, not in the literal sense anyway. Nor do I mean you any harm."

"Fair enough," the old man nodded. "You helped us when you have no connection to us so I'll let it go for now. May I perchance ask you for another favor?"

"What is it?"

"There's another town not too far from here," the old man said, pulling out an amulet from under his robe. "Show them this and tell them what has happened here. Tell them that Stan sent you. Might want to find a robe or something before you go, lest you want them to attack you on sight."

"...Fine..." Zero nodded as he looked down at himself. With a snap of his fingers, a white robe with a red and black flame design at its hem appeared around him and he pulled on the hood to shield his eyes "Will you be okay by yourselves?"

"That Nagi wouldn't come here if he hadn't taken care of the rest of the demons," Stan said waving his hand. "It should be safe for now. But 'd appreciate it if you'd hurry."

"Understood," Zero nodded as he gave one last look at the crying boy just a little bit away. "Male role model...was it?"

He then turned toward the direction Stan pointed out for him and took to the sky, with the wind blowing against the armless sleeve.

"I wonder what will happen now..."

* * *

Over the next few days, after Zero managed to find and convince the town to send a rescue party to the village where Stan and Negi were, he found himself locked in a spartan room with several magic seals around it to keep him inside.

He had expected it of course, having fully admitted to not being human, and due to his different magic and looks, but it didn't mean he had to like it.

On the other hand, he was fed twice a day, a bowl of soup and some bread, and had a roof over his head so he couldn't really complain. It would be nice if they would at least give him a window or something.

On the tenth day, his cell door actually opened.

Sitting up from his bed, he saw Stan and the woman from the other day come in and lit the candle beside the door.

"They didn't seem to have treat you too well," the old man said as he rubbed his beard. "Didn't even bother giving you a new arm either I see..."

Zero noted Stan was looking at his left sleeve and simply shrugged his shoulders at the "older" man.

"On the other hand," Zero began. "It seems you two have recovered. Congratulations."

"It's thanks to you," the young woman said. "My name is Nekane Springfield. I wish to thank you for the other day."

"It's no problem," Zero shrugged. "But that can't be the only reason why you two are here."

"Indeed," Stan nodded. "We came to find out what exactly are you. You are clearly magical, but you don't fit in any of the known magical species. I'd still say you're a demon, but a demon of your power would certainly have some sort of record. But there's nothing about a gold and red-eyed demon that can cast wide area spells in seconds."

"I am what I am," Zero replied. "I don't know what you would call me. For all I know, perhaps I am the first of my kind."

"You are not really being helpful, are you?"

"Then...how about we start at the beginning?" Nekane asked. "Before you came to the town, what were you doing?"

"I was..." Zero began as he rubbed his chin in thought. "Floating...I think."

"Floating?"

"I do not know how to describe it. I was just there. In the middle of empty space, drifting along without a destination. Then, the next thing I knew, a portal of some kind opened up and spat me out along the edges of your town where I saw the flames. Then, I started killing any of those so-called demons I could find before I came across you two and the kid...how is he by the way?"

"Apart from asking about his father, Negi is fine," Nekane replied as Stan scoffed.

"Making us believe he was dead for years only to show up out of the blue like that and disappearing just as quickly..." Stan muttered. "You sure you know nothing about that?"

"I do not," Zero shook his head.

"Do you think perhaps it was Nagi who summoned you here?" Nekane asked.

"I doubt it," Zero replied. "He seemed surprised to see me when we met so I don't think it was him."

"Hmm...how troubling..." Stan sighed. "I wonder...perhaps you managed to hitch a ride with the demons when they were summoned and came to our world like that."

"Perhaps so..."

"So...you're a contract summon without a contract or a purpose..." Nekane muttered as she held her chin in her hand. "All summoned creatures have to use their own magic to remain in this world unless they have a contract. You should have returned back to wherever you came from when your magic ran out. Unless..."

"Unless you have a ridiculously stupid amount of magic," Stan said as he pointed his staff at Zero, who simply shrugged again. "From just what I've seen, casting several dozen shooting spells, flying, those magic wings of fire, casting a wide area spell before compressing it and expanding it all in a matter of seconds...just how much magic do you have to keep on remaining here?"

"I suppose the only truthful answer I can give is, 'Enough.'"

"You're a cheeky one, aren't you?" Stan sighed.

"What do you plan to do now?" Nekane asked.

"Provided that you people let me out?" Zero asked, raising an eyebrow. "I have nothing I feel like doing. I have no needs or wants. I'd probably just stay here even if you people do let me out. If not, then I'll probably just disappear into the mountains or something. It wasn't as if I willing answered a summoning or wanted to be summoned."

"Then...would you like to stay here?" Nekane asked, causing Zero to stare at her.

"Nekane?" Stan asked as he too, stared at the woman.

"We still have no idea who summoned those demons or why," Nekane explained. "There is also no telling if they will try again. If they do, wouldn't it be better to have someone around to take care of them in the event it happens?"

The two males in the room looked at each other as if silently asking the other if the woman was serious before turning back to her.

"I am serious," Nekane said, answering their silent question.

"Are you sure?" Zero asked. "I'm not exactly...human."

"Yes, I am definitely sure," Nekane said. "Especially considering the fact that you have been nothing but cooperative with us the entire time. I believe you are trustworthy. So? Instead of wandering the world, why don't you make a contract with me and stay here?"

"N-Nekane?" Stan asked as he turned toward her. "Are you sure about that?"

"Yes," the woman nodded before turning back to Zero. "Well?"

"Very well," Zero nodded. "I'll accept your contract, Nekane Springfield."

"Good. Then, Stan? Can you draw us a Pactio Circle?"

"Very well..." Stan sighed. "It's your funeral."

A few minutes later, Stan finished drawing up an elaborate circle on the floor of the cell.

"Well then," Nekane said as she stepped inside. "Please step inside...oh dear. Not that I think about it. We never received your name."

"My name..." Zero began. "I have many names. I am NachtWal. Material-O. O for Origin. Omega the End. But...I remember being called Zero...by my family."

"Zero then..." Nekane said with a smile.

"Humph..." Nevertheless, Zero stepped inside the circle and stood in front of Nekane. "So what do I need to do?"

"Huhuhu...just leave it to me," Nekane said as the circle activated beneath them.

Immediately, Zero felt magic enter his body and began circulating as he stared at Nekane in front of him. The girl's face was slowly turning read as she brought her face closer to his.

Zero's widened in shock as he figured out what she was trying to do but was too late to stop it as she pressed her lips against his.

The light grew even brighter and stronger before finally fading, causing Zero to stumble backward and cover his mouth.

"W-what was...?" he began only to quiet down when he saw two strange cards appear in front of Nekane before falling into her hands.

"It's a Pactio," Nekane said as she looked down at the cards before turning back up to him. "Oh my, it's a gold card an... you certainly look dashing."

"Huh?"

Zero turned from Nekane toward Stan who let out a small cough and waved his staff, conjuring a mirror in the air and held it up in front of Zero.

Glancing into the mirror, he saw that he more or less looked like he did before coming to this world. His hear was short again and the red lines across his body had rescinded and disappeared. His eyes had also stop glowing, but the left eye was still...wrong for lack of a better word.

His Sclera was blood red while his iris was still pitch black.

"Not completely back to normal...huh?" he muttered as he covered his left eye. "So what exactly are those cards?"

"It's the symbol of our contract," Nekane replied. "Here. This one is for you."

"A contract sealed with a kiss...huh?" the Material sighed as he looked down on the card.

The yellow card depicted him in a black suit with matching black gloves and several different colored rings hanging from his waist along with a ring with a hand emblem on his right hand, matching the emblem on his belt. The strangest part was that it was depicting him with his left arm still intact which had a yellow ring on it.

On the very top left of the card, there was the letter N. At the very top were the words "Charta Minister" and on the top right were the words "_Aurum et Niger_ _tonus._" At the base of his image was the word "Zero" over the word "NachtWal" which itself was over the phrase "_Omega Veneficus._"

Then at the bottom left were the words "_astralitas_" and Saturn which bordered Saturn's symbol. At the bottom center of the card from top to bottom were the words: _virtus, decorum, directio, _and _occidens_. The bottom right of the card also had the letter N on it too.

"You still have your left arm..." Stan noted as well. "Are you hiding something?"

"I wonder," Zero replied vaguely as flapped his empty sleeve.

"Perhaps when you call upon the contract, your arm is restored?" Nekane suggested. "Try saying, '_Adeat_' at the card."

"_Adeat_!" Zero shouted and the card vanished in a flash of light. When the light died, he was wearing the rings and the coat depicted on the card. He also had his arm back. Rolling up his sleeve, he saw that there was nothing actually there and that the glove was connected by a transparent form of an arm "What do you know..."

"I see..." Nekane muttered as she walked over and pressed a finger on the fake arm and looked up at Zero. "I can touch it but can you feel it?"

"Not at all," the Material replied as he flexed his left hand. "It will take some getting use to but I believe I can manage this. How do I dispel it?"

"Simply say, '_Abeat_' when you are done," Nekane replied.

And with that, the rings and the suit vanished, leaving him back in his prison robes with an empty sleeve hanging useless at his side.

"This...is really strange..." Zero muttered tapping the sleeve. "I have never heard of such magic before. This world is certainly interesting."

"I'm glad you think so," Nekane said with a giggle. "Now then, let's leave this cell behind us."

"So what does a Pactio entail?" Zero asked as he followed Nekane out with Stan excusing himself.

"Hmm...the 'Pactio' system is a contract system commonly used among Western Mages. It has two components comprising it: The 'Magistra Magi,' which in our case is me, and the 'Minister Magi,' you."

"The 'Master of Magic' and the 'Servant of Magic?' I see..."

"Right," Nekane nodded. "The traditional purpose to this system is to give the Magister a kind of support during battle. Normally, the Minister's duty is to protect the Magistra with physical abilities and his artifact, your card, while the Magister is given time and space to cast offensive and defensive spells. One might compare the Minister like infantry, while the Magistra is like the long-range artillery."

"So...I'm more or less a Knight Program?"

"Program?" Nekane repeated.

"It's nothing," Zero replied, shaking his head. "I understand the basics now. Is there anything else important to note about the Pactio?"

"Just...one thing," Nekane began slowly. "A Pactio's power becomes useless if the Magistra dies.."

"Makes sense," Zero nodded as Nekane continued walking forward before spinning around to look back at him. "The power vanishes when the one who gave the power ceases to exist."

"So please take good care of us from now on, Zero," she said with a smile.

* * *

Chapter's End Corner:

**Harouki:** Another idea that popped into my head to deal with the end of Material O/NachtWal as it were with the new name that the A's movie game the Corrupted Defense Program. Just writing it out for plot bunnies and not really expecting it to go anywhere.


End file.
